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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24044842">Darkness Bleeds</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimalKim/pseuds/GrimalKim'>GrimalKim</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stranger Things (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Tension, Canon-Typical Violence, Chemistry, Childhood Friends, Dumb Choices by Smart Women, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Family, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Good Parent Jim "Chief" Hopper, Grief/Mourning, Homecoming, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Made For Each Other, Original Character(s), Other, Past Relationship(s), Protective Jim "Chief" Hopper, Slow Burn, Trauma, Tropes, and not just the kind taught in class</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:34:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>126,684</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24044842</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimalKim/pseuds/GrimalKim</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She hasn't been home in twelve years, but Hawkins now is definitely not the Hawkins she remembers.<br/>There's a new Chief of Police.<br/>There's rumours of a mall.<br/>Most of her family are in the cemetery.<br/>And oh, yeah, there's a monster in the woods.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jim "Chief" Hopper/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>83</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>59</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Homecoming</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The stars over Hawkins had aligned just right on the evening of February 19th, 1985. The only people who had even a chance of knowing that though were the scientists who worked in an observatory some hundred miles away. And on February 19th, 1985 they were looking in the opposite direction at something far less important. Someone else who wasn’t paying attention to the stars that night was Evelyn Carter. Her eyes were fixed on the dark, unlit road in front of her. It had been a long time since she had been in Hawkins, and even longer since she had driven down to her grandfather’s hunting cabin down by Denfield. She knew there was a dirt road somewhere in front of her, but in the dark, with only her headlights, it was hard to spot it. She was so busy straining her eyes looking for her turn off that she completely missed the deep pothole until it was too late. Her front left tyre hit it, and she heard the pop right before she felt the car dip.</p><p>“Shit, shit, shit.” Evelyn pulled her car over to the side of the street, jumping out the second the engine had stopped. Her flashlight was in the driver’s door and she flicked the switch, hitting it with the side of her palm when the light flickered. Illuminating the flat tyre, she swore again, flopping back against the hood of her car. It was late, freezing cold and pitch-black outside, and Evelyn was torn between spending the night in her GTI, or grabbing what she could carry from the trunk and continuing on foot to the cabin. But what if she had missed the turn off and walked right out of town? She groaned, swearing again as she shivered, goose pimples freckling the bare skin of her arms. It looked like it was going to be the backseat for the night – the better of two evils, as her mother used to say. Evelyn’s hand gripped the door handle just as the bright lights appeared in the distance. They grew bigger and brighter, and soon enough she could make out the shape of the car they belonged to. It slowed, coming to a halt behind her own and the silhouette of a policeman stepped out.<br/>
“Good evening, deputy.” She called out, raising her hand in a polite wave as he clicked his flashlight on.<br/>
“It’s the Chief.” The deep voice reminded her that Hawkins now was not the Hawkins from back then.<br/>
“Sorry. I’m still expecting Chief Palmer to be around, but I expect he’s long gone now – and he was much smaller than you.” This man was large and intimidating; if it hadn’t been for the police uniform Evelyn would have been desperately thinking of a way to escape him.<br/>
“Retired ten years ago and been dead for six.” The tall, broad man stepped further into her light and gave her what looked like a tight smile. It was hard to tell with his facial hair and the shadows. “Chief Jim Hopper.”<br/>
“Hopper? Like, class of ’60, Jim Hopper?” A wide smile spread across Evelyn’s face, memories of her youth coming back.<br/>
“Yeah.” His eyebrows furrowed together, drawing heavy over his eyes, and he gave her another once over. She shook her head, knowing he wouldn’t recognise her now.<br/>
“My eldest brother was in your class. Joey Carter?”<br/>
Realisation dawn on Hopper, who nodded. “Yeah, I remember Joe. He was big into music.” She was sure another tight smile appeared for a flicker of a memory, but it was hard to tell.<br/>
“Had the biggest record collection in Hawkins. Or so he used to say.”<br/>
“I think that might actually have been true.” Hopper’s hands came to his hips, flashlight lowered. “Wait. That would make you Little Evie.”<br/>
“Wow. No one has called me that since I left this place in 1973.”<br/>
Hopper’s chuckle was warm, his breath clouding in front of him. “Well I guess you weren’t so little then.” He noticed her shiver, arms tightening around her chest. It was far too cold to be standing on the side of the road in just a t-shirt. “What are you doing out here?”<br/>
Evelyn pointed her light at the burst tyre. “Pot-hole back there took my wheel out.”<br/>
“Got a spare?”<br/>
“That is the spare.” Hopper looked down at her in disbelief, crouching to assess the damage in better detail. “Its predecessor got a puncture somewhere between Wisconsin and Indiana’s state line. Apparently, my car didn’t want to come back to Hawkins.”<br/>
He straightened up again, shaking his head. “Randy can probably get this sorted for you, but it’ll be tomorrow now. Where abouts are you staying?”<br/>
“I was on my way to my grandpa’s old hunting cabin. It’s somewhere off Denfield, but there’s no lights out here and my memory is a little fuzzier than I anticipated.”<br/>
“Sounds like someone is a little too used to those bright city lights.”<br/>
“I guess I am.” Evelyn felt embarrassed, but she didn’t know why. Loads of kids had left Hawkins when she did, all of them chasing big cities and bright lights. She couldn’t be the first one to come back home. Jim Hopper’s presence alone was enough to reassure her of that, yet the heat still warmed her cheeks.<br/>
“That turning you’re looking for – it was after Denfield, not on it.”<br/>
“Oh my god, really?” Evelyn scrubbed her hand over her face and groaned into her palm. As if she wasn’t embarrassed enough already...<br/>
The gruff voice cut through her thoughts. “How long has it been since you were last out there?”<br/>
“Fifteen years – give or take.”<br/>
“Well, it’s about half a mile back that way.” Hopper shook his head and gestured towards the tan Blazer. “Come on. I’ll take you. In the morning I’ll swing by and we’ll see if Randy can come and sort this mess out.” He tapped his boot against the blown tyre and pushed his hat back just a little bit.<br/>
“I don’t want to put you out-“<br/>
“It’s my job. Besides, you’ll be on the way to the station.”<br/>
“Thanks.” Evelyn grabbed her duffel bag from the backseat of her car. It had everything she needed for one night, and the rest of her things she could grab tomorrow. In the Blazer, she was grateful for the warmth. Any longer outside and she’d be more frozen than a TV dinner.<br/>
“No problem.” Hopper started the engine and reversed back out into the empty road.</p><p>The cabin was made of solid wood, cosy, but it hadn’t been lived in for years. Evelyn fumbled for the light switch and came away with cobwebs wrapped around her long fingers instead<br/>
“No one clean this place out for you?” Hopper’s voice startled her just a little. He was much closer than she thought, and a second later the room filled with light. Glancing across, she had been about three inches too low in her own search for the light switch, but Hopper had found it.<br/>
“Frank said he was going to do it.” Evelyn sighed, her eyes flicking downwards as Hopper wiped his dusty hand clean on his thigh. “I should have known better.”<br/>
“Frank hasn’t been in town for over a year.” Hopper told her. “He came in after your old man’s accident, but he was gone a few days later.”<br/>
“Sounds like Frank, alright.” Evelyn only had one living brother and he was focused more on his new life than the one he had left behind. She was too tired to be mad right then, but once she had slept, and maybe fixed her car, then she would let Frank know how much of an asshole he was.<br/>
“Is, uh, anyone else coming to stay out here with you?” Hopper’s voice was tinged with concern, but Evelyn expected nothing less from the Chief of Police. Even old Palmer had worried about those he probably had every reason to hate.<br/>
“No. Just me.” Evelyn shrugged slightly, smiling weakly up at him. My god, she was tired. Her eyes were heavy, felt gritty, and it hurt to look up at Hopper.<br/>
“Hawkins isn’t the town it once was. You gonna be alright out here?” Hopper spoke like he knew more than he was letting on, but Evelyn simply guessed he meant the teenagers were more troublesome than any of them had ever been when they were that age.<br/>
“I’ll be fine, Chief.”<br/>
“Alright then. Well I’ll swing by in the morning, say nine-thirty, maybe ten.”<br/>
“Great. I’ll see you in the morning, Chief. And thanks again.”<br/>
“Don’t mention it, can’t have Joey Carter’s baby sister freezing to death. Good night, Little Evie.”<br/>
Evelyn laughed, crinkling her nose at the old nickname. She closed the door behind Hopper and frowned at the old, flimsy sliding lock. There was rust over most of it, and even when she put her whole weight behind the push it barely fastened. Enough pressure from the other side and it would probably just pop right back out. </p><p>Oh well, just another thing to add to the shopping list tomorrow.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay - so I have ideas. Mostly that this will (hopefully) be a semi-long story, a slow burn, a delicious dance, and something that won't just linger in my brain forevermore. I struggled to work season 3 into this, given the ending (and Valentine's teaser) and so as much as it pains me to skip over that and pretend it didn't happen (my 2am broken heart is probably the only one to thank me for that), we're doing just that.<br/>Who doesn't love a nice little canon-divergence every now and then, huh? Anyone?</p><p>Also - this OC is the same as the one I had in mind for my Hopper POV drabbles. I've decided to write this piece for my own sanity, but the drabbles will continue in the same way "Five Minutes More" did, and I'll throw them into their own series when I have more of them. You can read them as stand alone or reader inserts since they won't necessarily match up with this story chapter by chapter. However, in my head, they'll be connected - just glimpses of Hop's thoughts in those short moments.</p><p>I really hope that makes sense. I suck at words sometimes and yet call myself a writer -shrugs-</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Old Faces</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The following morning, after a night of fitful sleep because it constantly felt like something was crawling on her - and because it was so damn cold even with a small electric heater - Evelyn awoke at 6am. The shower looked like it needed a shower of its own, so she resigned herself to washing with a damp facecloth. It wasn’t the best, but it at least scrubbed away the “I’ve been in a car all day” feeling that lingered from the night before. A quick blast of hairspray fixed her shoulder length curls into a semi-respectable state, and she slipped back into her turn up jeans, sneakers and a clean sweater with a striped fair isle pattern. There was no food in the cabin, so she made a chocolate bar her breakfast and drank the last of a now-flat bottle of coke. She knew she should have stayed in a motel in Illinois so she could arrive in Hawkins when it was still light, but the promise of getting there sooner rather than later had won her over. And how she regretted that now. </p><p>In the daylight, the cabin looked worse. Sunlight revealed the amount of dust floating in the air, and she could see that the kitchen sink had created life in the years it had been abandoned. With the chocolate bar threatening to go back the way it came, Evelyn decided to get some fresh air. Stepping outside, what was left of the front yard was overgrown and weed ridden. There had never been a flower bed or anything out there since it was a modest hunting cabin, but her grandpa had always kept it tidy until the arthritis made it impossible. Evelyn considered making it better, digging a vegetable patch or bringing a little seating area down from the small porch – but maybe she would think about that when the weather was warmer. Even with her coat pulled tight around her it wasn’t warm enough to be hanging around outside. </p><p>Hopper arrived just after ten, his face giving away the rough start to his own day. Evelyn had heard him pulling up and met him outside where he handed a small bag to her.<br/>
“What’s this?” She asked, unfurling the top to peer inside.<br/>
“If you’re living out here, you’ll need better locks than your old grandpa used to believe in.” Hopper stated pointing to the door. “Your brothers used to break in here all the time to smoke and drink beer.”<br/>
Evelyn nodded her head in understanding. “I had noticed the rusted bolt last night when you left.”<br/>
He grunted out a response and turned back to the truck. “C’mon. Seems like you’ve got a lot to do.”<br/>
“I really appreciate this, Chief.”<br/>
“You don’t have to be so formal, Evie. This is Hawkins, not the city.” He paused turning the keys in the ignition. “Most folks just call me Hopper.” Evelyn nodded her head in understanding.<br/>
“Okay...Thanks, Hopper.”<br/>
“Don’t mention it.” He was quiet, turning out onto Mulberry after checking it was clear. “Y’know, I, uh, I was with Joey. Not at the end but, uh, I was with him for a bit.”<br/>
“Oh.” Evelyn tucked her hands into her lap. Joey had been something her family only brought up after too many beers, or when her father was mad at them. He was taboo – the dark shadow in the corner that everyone tried to ignore. “No one expects the golden child to never come home.” She whispered.<br/>
If Hopper heard it, he didn’t acknowledge it. The silence hung thick in the Blazer, Evelyn gazing out of the window. Hopper snuck a glance at her, wetting his lips before he spoke again, trying to articulate his point without upsetting Evelyn.  “A lot of the men would talk about their families; wives, kids, the girls waiting back home for them... Y’know? Joey was damn proud of you. He would brush over Frank going to college, or Charlie enlisting, too. We could never get him to shut up about Little Evie and how she could blast a ball out of the park, or how she was the smartest kid he had ever met.”<br/>
Evelyn smiled softly, blinking away the tears before they fell. She had missed Joey a lot when he left home to enlist in the army. He had never pushed her away or told her she couldn’t play with them. He had made time for the silly things she wanted to do even though he was in high school and she was just a dumb kid playing with dolls and learning basic multiplication.<br/>
“He was the best.” Evelyn stated, glancing at Hopper, smiling when he smiled.<br/>
“He’d say the same about you.” Hopper told her and Evelyn knew it wasn’t just some line to make her feel better. It was in his tone, the crook of his smile.<br/>
“Thank you, Hopper.” She squeezed his arm, just for a moment and then looked back out of the window, missing the smile he tossed her way right before he pulled the truck into Randy’s garage.</p><p>A few hours later and Evelyn had her car back on the road and a new spare tyre in her trunk. Her first stop after that was Melvald’s where she picked up cleaning supplies, along with a few other necessities she felt any house needed – like a fresh shower curtain and a welcome mat. At the cash register the woman there looked over the items and a huge smile crossed her friendly face.<br/>
“Evie Carter? Right?” Evelyn studied her, trying to place the face. “Sorry – Joyce Byers. Hopper called in this morning and said you were probably going to swing by at some point. I was in school with Joey, too.”<br/>
“Oh, of course. I, uh, sorry, it is such a long time ago.” Evelyn winced apologetically, forgetting that Hawkins was a hard place to keep secrets. Everyone knew each other and she had a feeling a good number of the town knew she was back by now.<br/>
“I bet moving back to Hawkins feels strange, huh?” Joyce started to ring up the items.<br/>
“Yeah. It’s the strangest.” Evelyn conceded, looking out of the store front before turning back to Joyce. “It’s like everything is different, but nothing has changed.” She shook her head, handing the cash over to Joyce. “That makes no sense.”<br/>
“It makes perfect sense. Believe me.” Joyce gave her a reassuring smile, passing the paper bag over the counter. “And if you need anything at all, don’t be afraid to stop by.”<br/>
“Thanks, Joyce. I’ll see you around.” Evelyn took a few steps towards the door and then spun on her heel. “Actually...Do you know what Hopper likes? I want to get him a little something – Y’know, to say thank you for helping me out.”</p><p>***</p><p>Hopper was hunched over his desk, phone wedged between his shoulder and ear as he lit the cigarette hanging from his lips. He wasn’t listening to the complaint on the other end – not really. He hummed and grunted every now and then to give the impression of caring, but this was the third time in as many days that Geoffrey Mayhew had called about the same problem; there was a cat sitting in his garden and it scared his parrot. Hopper had suggested moving the bird away, but he may as well have suggested killing the parrot with the way Geoffrey responded. It had been six years since his wife died and Jim Hopper had concluded two things: She must have had the patience of a saint, and that he was definitely getting worse as these years went by. It might even be time to try and call his son in Indianapolis, let him know that his father was losing his marbles.</p><p>By the time he had hung up – with the repeated promise of trying to find who owned the cat – Hopper felt drained. It was barely lunchtime and he wanted to go home. Ever since El and the last incident at Hawkins’ lab he was grateful for the slow days, the mundane calls, and the petty small-town rivalries. He would take them a million times over an end of the world emergency again. It didn’t mean they didn’t grate on him sometimes, crawl under his skin and make him wish he still carried that hip flask. Taking a long drag on the cigarette before stubbing it out in the overflowing ashtray, Jim leaned back in his chair just as laughter erupted outside of his door. Laughter wasn’t typically something he heard when he was at work. He was more used to angry shouts, his own men struggling to contain emotional citizens who felt they had been done wrong by someone else. Laughter, now that piqued his curiosity.</p><p>Opening the door and stepping outside, he saw Callahan hugging someone tightly, Powell grinning at his desk and Flo smiling.<br/>
Something definitely wasn’t right about this.<br/>
When Callahan stood back, Hopper could see who he had been clinging to, and he had to say that he was certainly surprised.<br/>
“Evie? Everything alright?” He moved closer, hands coming to rest on his hips. Hopper still couldn’t wrap his head around what was happening, but Evelyn didn’t seem like she needed police assistance.<br/>
Before she could answer, Callahan’s bellowing laugh filled the station again. “Evie! Little Evie! I forgot that name!” He clapped his hands together as Evelyn glared at him.<br/>
“Yeah, well, no one calls me that anymore.” Evelyn stated matter-of-factly. “After I left here it was just Eve or Evelyn.”<br/>
“Your own fault for not correcting me.” Hopper said quietly with a crooked smirk while Callahan continued to chuckle. “I didn’t know you two knew each other.”<br/>
“We both lived on Maple when were kids.” Callahan explained, still grinning like a kid at Christmas.<br/>
“And he used to try to cheat off me in class.” Evelyn added, staring pointedly at Callahan when he tried to protest.<br/>
“Figures, no way could this idiot make it through school without some help.” Hopper jokingly remarked, sticking another cigarette between his lips. This was all very weird for a Friday afternoon in the station.<br/>
“Hey!”<br/>
“Anyway! As much fun as old faces are, I came looking for one in particular. Can I have a word, Hop?” He was relieved this giddy reunion seemed to be over, and he turned his attention fully to Evelyn.<br/>
“Sure, come on through.” He motioned towards his office, holding the door open while she slipped inside. </p><p>“What’s the matter?” Hopper asked, closing the door and leaning back against it.<br/>
“Nothing. I just wanted to stop by and say thank you again for all your help.”<br/>
“Look, it was really no big deal Evie – I mean Evelyn.” She was already reaching into her purse, pulling out a bottle of scotch and handing it over to him.<br/>
“Joyce Byers said you didn’t drink it as much these days, but that you’d still appreciate it being in the cupboard.” Evelyn’s gaze moved to the open blinds, peering out conspicuously before pulling a small box from her purse and lowering her voice to a near-whisper. “She also said you’d like these, but that it was best not to let Flo see.”<br/>
Jim opened the box to see four powdered doughnuts inside. He chuckled, placing the box and the bottle on his desk before turning to face Evelyn. She really wasn’t Little Evie anymore. She had been barely at Hopper’s waist when he had seen her last, and now she was almost at his shoulders, fully grown and without the waist length braids he remembered her with. Damn, he felt old.<br/>
“Thanks.” He smiled down at her, thinking about whether or not he should also be thanking Joyce, too.<br/>
She shrugged, fingers fiddling with the leather purse strap over her shoulder. “Y’know, coming home is harder than leaving it. I didn’t know if the first face I saw here would be a friendly one or if Hawkins had become just like the city, filled with strangers who wouldn’t care even if you were set on fire right in front of them.”<br/>
Hopper understood that. He understood that more than he cared to, in fact. The city changed people, hardened them, but that wasn’t always a good thing.<br/>
“I lived in New York for a couple of years. I know what you mean.” Hopper leaned back against his desk, dragging the ashtray across the surface to tap his ash into.<br/>
“It’s a different world, isn’t it?” Evelyn’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, he noticed. He knew that feeling more than he cared to, as well.<br/>
“Totally.” He nodded in agreement, now in a place where he could say he was glad he came back home. “Is…Is that why you came back?”<br/>
She shook her head. “Not really. It’s just something you sort of notice over time. Or maybe I just struggled to let go of my small-town mindset.”<br/>
“Hey, that’s not always a bad thing.”<br/>
“No, no, not at all. But I came back because my dad’s getting worse and because Hawkins’ High is out a science teacher.”<br/>
Hopper nodded, letting out a grunt of understanding. Reg Carter hadn’t been the same since his accident. Hopper remembered being called out to the scene, wondering what the hell Reg had been thinking climbing a ladder in January. A man his age he was lucky that a shattered hip bone and fractured arm was all he had come away with.<br/>
“Kaminsky was hoping to retire at the end of the spring semester, wasn’t he?” Another memorable call out, but this time a heart attack. Hopper had only held off the crowd while the EMTs took the former science teacher away from the bar where he had collapsed. Man was damn lucky to be alive.<br/>
“Yeah, but he’s been told it’s got to be now, or he won’t live to see the year out.” Evelyn crossed the office to look out of the window onto the quiet street. “It’s weird finding my future in his almost lack of one.”<br/>
“It’s because you know them. I found it strange when I got Chief.” Hopper wasn’t sure how many of Hawkins’ current residents had transitioned back to the quiet life from the city, but he knew that it was strange, like walking around in someone else’s skin.<br/>
She turned back around, a real smile on her face this time. “I’m sure I’ll get used to all of this again.”<br/>
“Before you know it, Evie – shit – sorry - Evelyn.”<br/>
Her laugh was warm and melodious, yet strikingly not all that different from Joey’s. “I guess you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. If Evie works, then so be it.” Her smile grew and she tucked her curls behind her ear, crossing to the door, her hand gripping the knob before glancing back at Hopper.<br/>
“Thanks…again…” She laughed awkwardly, breathing in through her teeth as her eyes met Hopper’s again. “I’m sure you’ll stop hearing that eventually.”<br/>
“Hey, stop by any time if you’re bringing doughnuts.” Hopper said warmly, biting his tongue before he mentioned Joey again. He’d be proud of his kid sister, of that Hopper was certain. Looking out for her was the least he could do for his old friend.<br/>
“I’ll see you around, Hop.” She smiled again – another real smile that crinkled her eyes – and she was gone, pausing at Callahan’s desk to say goodbye to him, too. </p><p>Hopper turned to his desk, plucking a doughnut from the box and taking a big bite out of it. After listening to Geoffrey Mayhew for twenty-three minutes, this was exactly what he had needed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm really excited to carry on with this, so I imagine I'll churn out the next few chapters in no time at all.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Cobwebs and Coffee</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At the end of the weekend, the old hunting cabin looked a lot more like a home. It was dust free, everywhere smelt like lemon and anything unsalvageable had been dragged outside. The bathroom sparkled, the kitchen had evicted its previous lifeform and now had flowers and fresh kitchenware hanging and sitting in all the right places. The bulk of the cabin looked bare, but that was because it had become quickly apparent that the old couch had come there to die. It sagged, it poked, and it smelt of a combination of foul things Evelyn didn’t want to commit too much time to thinking about. </p><p>She swayed her hips as she swept the last of the dust out of the front door. Jefferson Airplane had been on the record player for the best part of her Sunday afternoon, and she hummed along to them, twirling with the broom, lost in her own little bubble.<br/>
Evelyn had forgotten just how peaceful rural Indiana was. She had been gone for far too long, hiding in Milwaukee, playing at being a big city girl. Now she was certain that the only person she had been fooling was herself. She had missed the fresh air, the stillness of the mornings…she had missed Hawkins. Evelyn just hadn’t realised how much until she was there again, walking the same streets she remembered from her childhood, treading the paths she had thought she had forgotten. It was funny really, just how -<br/>
“Moving out already?”<br/>
Startled from her thoughts, Evelyn let out a sudden short scream and the broom fell from her hand, hitting the wooden floor with a bouncing thud.<br/>
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya.” Hopper’s voice was softer this time, but he couldn’t stop himself from chuckling.<br/>
Evelyn gave him a tight smile, her hand still pressed over her racing heart.<br/>
“Sure, Hop.” Taking a deep breath, she bent to pick up the broom and rested it against the wall. “What can I do for you?”<br/>
He plucked his hat from his head, spinning the brim slowly between his fingers. “I ran into Joyce earlier. She said you seemed to be buying up most of Melvald’s and that someone should probably make sure you didn’t need any help.” He shrugged, his blue eyes glancing upwards for a fraction of a second. “And by someone she meant me.”<br/>
Evelyn’s smile grew and she leaned cautiously against the porch railings. Hopper seemed to share her anxiety about the old wooden structure as she noticed his brow furrowing, taking a slow step towards her. “I’m not sure many other people know I’m out here.”<br/>
“That’s true.” He pointed back at the evicted couch, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “Pretty sure it’s a little cold to be sitting outside though.”<br/>
“That thing is not for sitting on. It’s a death sentence.” Evelyn hopped down the steps and stepped by Hopper to poke at the worn cushions. The slightest pressure from her hand and it sank considerably. “I flopped down on it Friday afternoon and thought I was going to end up going through the cabin floor.”<br/>
“So, you’re in the market for a new couch.” He said, nodding his head in total understanding. It was no good for anyone – not even the spiders that he was certain had called it a home at some time or another; especially judging by the number of cobwebs he had seen the other night.<br/>
And speaking of cobwebs…<br/>
“You’ve got something.” Hopper pointed to his own head, just over his left ear.<br/>
“What? Oh!” Evelyn shook her head, curls bouncing in her face. “I’ve had dust and fluff and even a spider come out of there this morning.” She froze, body tensing as she peered up at Hopper through a wild mess of springy curls. “It’s not another spider is it?”<br/>
“No.” Hopper reached out, hesitating briefly as his fingers hovered over her chestnut brown hair. “Here.” He plucked out the dangling cobweb and flicked it away.<br/>
“Thanks.” Evelyn finger combed her curls back into place behind her red and blue cloth headband.<br/>
Hopper smiled and then glanced around. The couch wasn’t the only thing in the front of the cabin. There was a dining chair missing the seat, some pieces of splintered wood, and balled up yellow fabric that – judging by the splotches – hadn’t always been that shade of yellow.<br/>
“Anything else I can help with?” He asked, fully aware just from looking around that her weekend hadn’t been easy – not if all of this was piled outside her front door.<br/>
“I think I’ve got everything.” Evelyn looked back at her cabin, a proud glimmer in her forest green eyes. “Yeah. I think so. Things need a lick of paint, but at least it’s habitable now.”<br/>
Hopper’s eyes never left her, his brain speculating so many different things that one was eventually going to spill out. “How come you’re not moving in with your old man?” Oh, he wished it had been anything but that one. “Sorry, that was…personal.”<br/>
“No, it’s fine.” A strong, bitter breeze bit at Evelyn’s skin and she couldn’t supress the shiver that followed. “It’s freezing. Want to come inside for a coffee?” She cocked her thumb at the front door, smiling brightly when Hopper nodded his head.</p><p> </p><p>Inside, she set about making coffee in her small, now-tidy kitchen. Jefferson Airplane continued to fill the comfortable silence, alongside the boiling of the kettle on the stove “My dad is trying to cling to his independence. Plus, we’d bash heads too often.” She shrugged, downplaying the situation as she spooned the coffee grains into cups. “He thinks I should never have left Hawkins; I think he needs to stop being stuck in the 40’s…that sort of stuff.”<br/>
“But you went to college. You teach science to teenagers – must have the patience of a saint for that.” He perched against her dining room table, unsure of what else to do given the lack of a sofa in the small, yet comfortable cabin.<br/>
“My mom had the patience of a saint. Four kids and my dad to put up with?” Her laugh was light and airy, full of youth that Hopper had almost let go of. “Sugar? Cream?”<br/>
“I take mine black.” Hopper dropped his hat to the space beside him, aware now that he had been fiddling with it since his arrival. “I remember your mom. She used to make the best apple pie in Hawkins.”<br/>
“I think the whole town came around when she was baking.” Evelyn remembered those days fondly. The entire house would smell of fruit and sugar as her mom sang in the kitchen, making plenty of pies and cakes to go around. “Funny, huh, how the only reason anyone knew she was in trouble was because Brenda next door smelt the apple pie burning.” She had been in college then, in a place that seemed a lifetime away from Hawkins. Evelyn senior had collapsed on the kitchen floor, a brain aneurysm no one could have seen coming snatching her life when she was only fifty-four.<br/>
“I’m sorry about her. And about your brothers.” His tone was soft, comforting when she didn’t even know that was what she needed. It had been so long ago that Evelyn thought she was okay talking about the family who were no longer around. Maybe it was being back home that made her heart ache for them. Maybe it was just the memories being so close. Or maybe it was Jim Hopper’s warm voice, soothing and safe, that let her know that it was okay to be sad.</p><p> </p><p>Tragedy was no stranger to the Carter family. Joey had died in 1968, one of the many victims of the Battle of Khe Sanh. Evelyn had still been in school, just a kid who looked forward to her brother’s letters and for the day when he would come home. He had promised the last time he wrote that it would be ‘soon’. She didn’t think he knew how right he would be. She also didn’t think Joey ever expected to come home in a wooden box.<br/>
Charlie had enlisted three years after Joey had, as soon as he turned eighteen. While no family was ever prepared to lose one son in the war, the Carter family lost two. Charlie died in April ’75 at The Fall of Saigon. Her father had given up then, or at least that was what Evelyn thought. Whenever she spoke with her mother he was in the garage, or out at the cabin. If anyone had told Evelyn that four very short months later her mother would be gone, too, she would never have believed them.</p><p>She was just about to enter her junior year of college that summer. She almost gave it all up to come home to Hawkins. Her last remaining brother talked her out of it. A dentist, working his first year in a small dental practice in Chicago, Frank thought he knew the world. He convinced Evelyn that there was nothing left for her in Hawkins. Their father was a miserable old man who wouldn’t let her chase her dreams.  The town was stuck two decades in the past, clinging to empty American dreams. Frank had made Hawkins sound like a nightmare to a grieving, headstrong Evelyn. So, she stayed away. She stayed away until guilt and responsibility drove her home. </p><p> </p><p>The ache in her chest remained, but her eyes were dry. She handed Hopper his coffee and sipped at her own. “I thought my family was cursed for the longest time.” She admitted, blowing the steam away from her cup. “Every time the phone rang in my apartment, I expected more bad news.”<br/>
Hopper simply listened; feeling Evelyn needed to talk this out right now. There wasn’t enough liquor in this scenario for sharing feelings and sad memories – at least not for him.<br/>
“It got silly. I would jump whenever it rang, I had my roommate answer it for me…Eventually I told myself I was being stupid.”<br/>
“It’s not stupid.” Hopper understood grief. He understood it too well. It pressed against his ribcage, suffocating him some days.<br/>
“Well, it felt it.” Evelyn crossed her legs as she pressed back against the clean countertops. “I was going to be a science teacher, and the basic idea of life and death had me jumping like there were…I don’t know - shadow monsters in my room at night.” She let out a soft laugh, shaking her head at the very idea of things going bump in the night. “I told myself to get over it – which didn’t work so well at first – but in time…”<br/>
“It got better.” Hopper finished, once again too familiar with what she was saying.<br/>
“Yeah.” Her eyebrows raised and she let out a long sigh, her shoulders lighter after the short and mostly one-sided conversation.</p><p> People in the city had only wanted to speak about themselves, about their future and their jobs and dreams. No one really wanted to dwell on the past and definitely not someone else’s. Evelyn hadn’t really had anyone to turn to when her sorrow became to heavy to carry alone. “Time heals all wounds, I suppose.”<br/>
“So they say.” Hopper’s tone had changed. It was heavier, laced with a heartache Evelyn had been too oblivious to notice until now. She realised, suddenly, that this may not be a good conversation to be having with Hopper, who just a few days ago had told her he had been in Vietnam with her brother. “Anyway. Enough doom and gloom.” She forced a smile and sipped her own again, watching Hopper nurse his. “Coffee okay?”<br/>
“Yeah, it’s pretty damn good, actually.” He acknowledged through another tight smile before taking a long gulp from the dark peach mug.<br/>
“No point wasting time on cheap coffee.”<br/>
“Exactly.” Hopper raised his cup; glad the conversation had changed. His mind had been too close to that rabbit hole, chasing after memories of Sara, of New York, of Diane.</p><p>The music stopped playing and the cabin fell into a still silence. Evelyn peered over at the record player, putting her coffee down as she went to flip the album over.<br/>
“I guess Joey wasn’t the only music lover in the family, huh?” Hopper smiled, his eyes drifting to the stack of record sleeves on the coffee table.<br/>
“Most of these are his. I only added to them.” Evelyn didn’t want to dredge up sad memories again. </p><p>She avoided mentioning that she had rescued his record collection from trash bags after her father tried throwing them out along with everything else of Joey’s. She kept it a secret that she had spent too many midnights listening to Buddy Holly, holding the beaten-up bear Joey had given her for her sixth birthday. She had claimed to be too old for it the summer before, shoving it in a box, but the moment she was told Joey was dead she dug him out and never shoved him away again.</p><p>“Not bad, not bad…” Hopper was thumbing through the pile with one hand, his coffee in the other, nodding in approval until he came to one that he scrunched his face up at. “Spandau Ballet?” Evelyn let out an embarrassed chuckle, twisting the knot in her shirt between her fingers as Hopper held up <i>True</i>, his eyebrows raising as he waited for an excuse.<br/>
“Would you believe me if I said it was an ex’s?”<br/>
“I’d believe that he was an ex, yeah.” Hopper joked, slipping it back where he found it. “No one with music taste that bad is worth sticking with.”<br/>
“Well, I guess I can finally let my dad know why I’m unmarried at thirty!” It was just a joke, but Hopper’s face fell. He instantly felt sick, his stomach churning the coffee it was still digesting. His mouth was as big and as brutish as the rest of him sometimes.<br/>
“I- I didn’t – I don’t mean that, uh –“<br/>
“I’m joking, Hop.” Evelyn’s eyes went wide as she reassured him. “Sure, it’s not exactly what I imagined at eighteen, but I’m not quite ready to label myself a spinster yet.”<br/>
“Good, because, uh, you shouldn’t.” He was stumbling over his words, walking backwards towards the door of the cabin, his knuckles white where they curled around the coffee mug. It was very warm all of a sudden. “Plenty of fish in the sea.”<br/>
Evelyn looked perplexed, trying to figure out what was happening as she slowly followed the retreating Hopper to the door. “Yeah, I guess.”<br/>
“I should go. I have to be home soon.”<br/>
“Dinner on the table?” Evelyn teased, still not clear on what had just transpired.<br/>
“No. Just a, uh, kid who gives me grief if I’m later than I promised.”<br/>
“Oh, you have a kid? How old?” As a teacher she took a polite interest in people’s children; especially those who she could very well end up teaching.<br/>
“She just turned fourteen.” Hopper was proud of El. <i>Damn</i> proud of the kid. That was why the words seemed to just tumble out of his mouth as he pulled the keys from his pocket and headed back to the Blazer. “I, uh, I adopted her from a bad situation. She’s – She’s special. Likes her space. Isn’t all that used to town yet.” Evelyn nodded in understanding, folding her arms around her middle to stave off the cold. “We’re probably your closest neighbours actually – live on the other side of the water, not far from Denfield.”<br/>
“And I thought I was the only one crazy enough to live out here.”<br/>
“No, not at all.” Hopper smiled, feeling at ease now he had gulped down some bitterly cold air. “Hey, I’ll get this crap taken away for you. Don’t worry about it.”<br/>
“Are you sure? You’ve done so much already.” Evelyn hadn’t even thought about how to move the junk from her yard. She had been too preoccupied getting the inside looking nice.<br/>
“Yeah, yeah. It’s not a big thing. I’ll be in touch.” He waved as he climbed in the truck, wasting little time in starting up the engine.<br/>
Evelyn watched him drive away, wondering if Hopper realised that he had taken her mug with him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is a slow burn, and I'm aware that the start is going a little slow, but I want to build this relationship before I get to the fun stuff. There's a lot of past without being a past here...</p><p>Anyway! I hope you enjoy!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Something Stirs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Joyce Byers was finishing 8 Across in the Hawkins Post daily crossword puzzle when a shadow loomed over her, a mug coming down over her half-completed puzzle. She blinked at it, recognising the peach ceramic as something Melvald’s rarely sold.<br/>
“Uh, we don’t serve coffee here, Hop.” Her eyebrows were raised as she looked up at Hopper, tapping her pen against the newspaper on the counter.<br/>
“I know.” He glared down at his old friend, rolling his tongue around in his mouth. “It’s Evie’s – Evelyn’s.”<br/>
“So why do you have it <i>here?</i>” Joyce asked, leaning back. She recalled the familiar face picking up six mugs of different colours yesterday. Along with a bunch of other items on what was her second trip of three to the general store.<br/>
“I forgot to give it back when I left.” He scrubbed his hand over his face, fingertips dragging across his jaw.<br/>
Joyce tilted her head, lips parted, trying to find the words - any words really – to make sense of all this.<br/>
“So,” she began, straightening up and pointing her pen at Hopper. “You were at her place, you had coffee – I’m assuming – and when you left you took this with you?” She dropped the pen to the counter and shrugged quickly. “As what – a souvenir?”<br/>
“I panicked.”<br/>
“You panicked? What? Was the coffee that bad?” </p><p>Hopper groaned, stooping over the counter. His elbows rested against the cold metal and he buried his face in his hands. He had been an idiot. He took a deep breath and from behind his hands he relayed the story to Joyce. He told her about his stupid, big mouth saying the wrong thing. He exaggerated how the joke had slipped out before he could really think about it. And he finished the story by asking what else he was supposed to do other than backpedal out of her space.</p><p>When he was finished, he peeked out at Joyce who was covering her mouth with her own balled hand. The crease in his brow deepened when he realised her shoulders were shaking. He stood up straight, taking a step back from the counter, hands falling loosely to his sides.<br/>
“Are you laughing at me?”<br/>
Joyce’s composure cracked, her laugh echoing around Melvald’s as she doubled over.<br/>
“I don’t believe it. You’re laughing at me.”<br/>
“Oh, c’mon, Hop. You embarrassed yourself in front of her and decided to run away.” Joyce’s giggles were not helping in the slightest. “It’s something I’d expect from Will, not ‘Jim Hopper, Chief of police’.” She deepened her voice, planting her hands on her hips when she said his name.<br/>
“Was that supposed to be me?”<br/>
Joyce laughed again, swinging her arms by her sides as she slipped out from behind the counter to talk to him.<br/>
“She didn’t act uncomfortable after the joke?”<br/>
He shook his head.<br/>
“Then you didn’t need to be either. Sure, it was awkward and probably not what you expected, but you <i>ran away.</i>”<br/>
He sighed, pulling his pack of Camels from his pocket and drawing one out.<br/>
“Hop, what’s the matter? This isn’t like you.”<br/>
He lit the smoke, inhaling deeply. “She’s Joey’s kid sister. It – It’s <i>Little Evie</i>. I want to make sure she’s doing okay – for him, y’know.”<br/>
He had told Joyce in the days previous about the short time he had spent with Joey during the war. It had been rough, and it wasn’t something Hopper typically talked about with anyone, but Joey had always planned to come back to Hawkins, be the local war hero, and just be there for Evelyn should she ever need him. Instead she had known death far too young, and since then had lost more people than himself. It wasn’t right – not for the little girl he remembered.<br/>
Joyce’s smile was sympathetic, her voice gentle. “She’s not a kid anymore, Hop. And Reg Carter is in no condition to discipline anyone, let alone a thirty-year-old.”<br/>
Hop grunted, the cigarette back between his lips again. </p><p>Reg Carter was never going to win a prize for the most popular man in town. In the six years Hopper had been Chief, complaints had been made against him and by him. He was an angry man – always had been from what Hopper could recall – and his kids were no good if they didn’t obey his orders. He had spent most of his life as a salesman, and when he was out of town, Evelyn senior had let her children do as they pleased so long as they hurt no one, didn’t break the law and were home by curfew. No one saw the Carter kids when Reg was home. He had the boys working around the house, doing chores and repairs that he didn’t want to pay someone to do. Joey had told Hop when they were in Vietnam that he wanted to get home and make sure Evie wasn’t a victim of his foul moods. He had never hit them, but he was cruel in other ways. For Joey, he had smashed records, ripped posters, and once even set fire to a t-shirt he had just bought. Hopper remembered talking about it over cigarettes and the mush they were served for food. Joey had been a great guy. He had only wanted to look after his family, make sure they had the best. In another universe, Joey Carter would be wearing Hopper’s uniform, protecting Hawkins from trouble.</p><p>“So, you’re going to take her mug bag, right?” Joyce jarred him from his thoughts, her arms folded across her chest as she stared at Hop.<br/>
“Can you do it?”<br/>
“Hop!” She rolled her eyes, shoving the mug into his chest. “You’re like a child sometimes.” His fingers fumbled around the ceramic, the ash from his cigarette falling into it. “Clean it up, take it back, say you’re an idiot – in that order!”</p><p> </p><p>As it turned out, when he tried to take it back to her – smoking two cigarettes along the way – she was out. Her car was in the spot he had seen it last, but the cabin was locked up tight, and calling for her resulting in nothing but birds fleeing the trees around the house. Well, the mug was clean, it was back where it belonged…two out of three ain’t bad. He left it on her porch, putting it on the wooden ledge nearest the door. Hopefully she would see it there when she came back from…wherever she was. </p><p>***</p><p>Evelyn had gone down to the shoreline. It was bitterly cold, but she had wrapped up for the impromptu walk. Birds sang in the nearby trees, a whistled conversation from nests and perches, warnings concealed in what was only gentle birdsong to Evelyn. She walked along the water’s edge, recalling the few summers she had spent out here as a child. Before now, the cabin had been a place for the men to come, most of the time. Her grandfather had brought her down a few times when she was still tiny; to skip rocks over the tranquil waters and to swim in the warm summer months. Once she was older – when she was supposed to start practicing more womanly things – Evelyn only came to the cabin a handful of times. </p><p>One time she had crept out, following Frank and Charlie in the night when they were breaking rules. They had sat in the cabin, smoking and drinking with some friends, waiting on the girls to arrive when they had stumbled upon their little sister peering through the window. The only reason she never got into trouble was because they didn’t want to either.</p><p>Another time she had been helping her mother clear it out. Her grandfather had passed, and it was something that needed to be done. Guns and traps had been kept in the cabin, and with everyone but Evelyn living lives away from Hawkins, it just seemed dangerous to leave it all laying around. They had dropped most of the stuff off at Merrill’s farm, her mother keeping just one gun and a handful of bullets. Evelyn had asked why, and mother carefully told her daughter that the world was changing, and that her father was away too often nowadays.</p><p>And now? Well, now it was her modest home, a long cry away from the apartment she had shared with two other girls in Wisconsin. She knew they’d pull a face at it, call it quaint, while really meaning old and stuffy. They weren’t from small towns; they had probably never even driven through one. They had been city girls their whole lives and had, at first, found Evelyn’s way of thinking very strange and amusing. She wasn’t used to places being open well into the night, or on Sundays. Her family had never been religious, but it just seemed right that everyone had Sundays with their loved ones. Hawkins had fairs and community picnics on sunny afternoons then, knowing that no one would miss out because they were stuck behind a cash register, or buried under paperwork in an office.</p><p> </p><p>The minutes turned into hours as Evelyn sat on the pebbled shore. Her fingers were stinging from the cold, her nose and cheeks red. The cloud hidden sun was dipping below the horizon when she came back from her trip down memory lane. A stunning shade of violet was reaching across the sky, bleeding into the red and orange, chasing them away. Evelyn hadn’t meant to stay outside for this long. Pushing herself back to her feet, her knees were stiff; and her first few steps were sluggish, heavier than they ought to be. It was another small reminder than her youth was almost behind her. A few years ago, she could have jumped up and ran back to the cabin, but she had lost that energy somewhere when she was teaching classes and cancelling dates with men she couldn’t stand to see again.</p><p>Evelyn reached the edge of the woods. Her cabin was visible just a few metres in. Resting her hand against a tree for stability as she stepped over the jagged rocks that separated the shoreline from the damp earth, she heard – and felt – something squishing beneath her fingertips. She pulled her hand away, jaw dropping as a clear, sticky mucus came away with it.<br/>
“Oh! Oh – gross!” She rubbed her hand against her jeans, wiping her palm against the rough denim to try and get the gooey substance off. The pale jeans darkened; the impression of her handprint smeared across her left thigh.<br/>
She may have thought of herself as getting older, having less energy, but that didn’t stop Evelyn running the rest of the way to her home to scrub her hands clean, and to get out of the dirtied jeans.</p><p>She didn’t see the gloopy coating on the tree trunk pulse and ripple behind her.<br/>
Like it was breathing.<br/>
Like it was alive.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A sort of filler-y part, but with the threat of something new coming...</p><p>I hope you enjoyed it! The next few parts will continue to set up the bulk of the story and then, well, hang on tight!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. First Day 2.0</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Evelyn should have taken the nightmare as an omen of her first day at Hawkins High. She had awoken two hours before her alarm, sweating and shaking, unable to strip away the feeling that something was hiding, waiting for her. She couldn’t get back to sleep, tossing and turning beneath the bedsheets, burying her head under her pillow until she wanted to scream at something – <i>anything.</i></p><p>And then the working day had started. Her stockings snagged as she climbed out of her car at the school, and there was no time to take them off before the Principal had greeted her, ushering her through to the teacher’s lounge to get the introductions underway. She had kept her leg behind the other as much as she could, trying to hide the long ladder that ran from ankle all the way to her knee. It earned her a few odd looks when it seemed like she was curtsying to the rest of the faculty as she met them.<br/>Hawkins High hadn’t changed in the slightest since she had been there. Some new names were engraved into sports trophies, and of course the faces were different, but the school was exactly how she remembered it. The same paint on the walls, the same crackling morning announcements…it was as though stepping through the front doors had taken her back fifteen years.</p><p>Her first class had comprised of eighteen students. They were uninterested, save for one person who seemed very keen on finishing her sentences for her. He had only shut up when she eventually said – through a clenched smile – that it was a fast way of getting on her bad side. The few in the class who were still listening at that point had sniggered and for the rest of the lesson the only voice Evelyn heard was her own. The students evacuated the lab the second the bell rang, leaving Evelyn to shout the assigned reading down the hallway where it most likely fell on deaf ears.</p><p>It had only gotten worse from there. The freshmen apparently didn’t understand anything Evelyn said, even when simplified down to the very basic of known in the English language. She didn’t understand until she heard the sniggering five minutes before the bell. After working in her last school for four years she had forgotten all about the “new teaching hazing” tradition some students got a real kick out of. The sniggering stopped abruptly when she announced they’d have a test next class so she could see just what they did and didn’t know. She might have been a new face to them, but she would make it quite clear from the start that she wasn’t a pushover who would let the students dictate her classes. It got under her skin, the idea of them messing with her when she was in the very same town she had grown up in, working in the very same school where she had seen all of these antics play out before.</p><p>Lunchtime had been a brief reprieve. She collected her thoughts over a cheese sandwich and then went on to the afternoon classes with a second wind. That lasted approximately twenty-three minutes, racing out of her in a long breath when a kid managed to set fire to his own textbook when he leaned too far over the Bunsen burner. After that she cancelled practical experiments until that class understood how fire worked.</p><p> The AP Chemistry class was her last for the day, and Evelyn held out in hope that they would be easy. There were no fires, no pranks played, but they also didn’t engage with her the way she hoped they would. They listened, but never answered a question. They scribbled notes but never looked enthused about any of it. When the final bell rang Evelyn practically collapsed in her desk chair, head in hands.</p><p>Were the city schools she was used to that different from Hawkins High? There had always been some commotion, some drama going on that infiltrated her classroom. There was a banter, jokes, a rapport between class and teacher that she had been expecting to see again. Instead it was blank faces and eyes drifting to the clock that was ticking down the seconds to the next bell – And she couldn’t even go home yet! No, she had a meeting with the Principal and then she had conveniently started on the same day as the PTA meeting. And, of course, she had to attend and introduce herself to all the wonderful parents of the wonderful kids she taught. </p><p>It was 7pm when Evelyn finally left the school. Her feet were heavy, and her head was aching. After a late afternoon of smiling and greeting people who mostly knew her brothers, she was exhausted. She fished her keys from her purse, fingering through them until she had the right one. Evelyn was just about to turn the lock when a voice stopped her.<br/>“Evie!” She rolled her eyes, a smile fighting through the exhaustion as she wondered if Jim Hopper would ever call her anything else.<br/>“Evening, Hop.” She leaned back against her car, clutching her folders to her chest. “What are you doing here?”<br/>“Oh, they always ask me to stop by these things, just in case someone has concerns about the kids.” He shook his head, glancing back at the school to make sure no one was around. “I come in the last five or ten minutes and then slip back out again before they’re pouring the coffee. My days of arguing with teachers are long over.”<br/>“Maybe you should send someone else.”<br/>“They’d eat Callahan for breakfast.” He deadpanned, his blue eyes serious for just a moment. “So, how was it?”<br/>“Huh?”<br/>“First day. As bad you remember it?”<br/>“Worse.” Evelyn admitted, slumping against her car, the calf length emerald skirt rising ever so slightly and letting the cold evening air bite at her legs. “It was a total mess. The kids weren’t interested in the slightest. And they thought they could mess with me.”<br/>“Mess with you?” Hopper sounded concerned, the lines in his brow running deep. <br/>“Nothing serious. Just a couple of freshmen playing ignorant. I stopped it with the promise of a pop quiz.” She grinned wickedly. <br/>“Hm, well, that should teach them.”<br/>“Hopefully.”<br/>“So…it was shit, huh?” Hopper’s bluntness caused Evelyn to laugh, her head falling back as she studied the stars glimmering high over her head.<br/>“Yeah. It was shit.” She agreed, still giggling up at the night sky.<br/>“You know what would make you feel better? A drink.”<br/>Her green eyes moved to Hopper, taking in his friendly smile that seemed so unlike the rest of him. He was broad and tall, and the kind of man Evelyn would cross the street to keep away from when she lived in Milwaukee. “I’m tired…and it’s a school night.”<br/>“Okay.” Although Hopper nodded, Evelyn noticed just how quickly his smile fell, and the way he plastered it back on a second later.<br/>“Don’t you have a daughter-imposed curfew, anyway?” She teased, not noticing her hand coming up to touch her ear as she slouched further against her car.<br/>“She’s with her friends tonight. They play…Dungeons and Dragons in a basement. I pick her up at nine thirty on the dot.” That precision was for himself, and less for El. Hopper was still wary of her going out in Hawkins, even if he dropped her off and picked her up himself. She wanted – and needed – that normality, but Hop was still seeing things in the dark, thinking dogs were demodogs - or whatever the hell Dustin had named them.<br/>“How about we grab something to eat instead? I need a burger and the biggest slush this town has to offer.” Evelyn suggested, her tired smile almost reaching her eyes this time. <br/>“I know just the place.”</p><p> </p><p>Half an hour later, Hopper was sitting across from Evelyn in the diner that had once belonged to Benny. His brother ran it now, keeping everything just how Benny had. That was why it was pretty busy compared to most places on a Monday night, most of the tables seating teenagers avoiding homework.<br/>“I don’t know how you can drink that stuff. It’s February for one, and it’s just ice and sugar.” Hopper shook his head as Evelyn sipped at the slush through the striped straw.<br/>“Well, I still have a sweet tooth when it’s cold.” She countered, her lips finding the straw again as she slurped loudly.<br/>“And cocoa wouldn’t hit the spot?” Hopper teased, plucking a handful of fries from his plate and sliding down in the seat, his foot resting right by Evelyn’s.<br/>“If I had cocoa, I’d be asleep before we finished eating.” She told him, leaning her elbows on the table as she tore a fry in two with her teeth. “I blame my mom. It was always hot cocoa and then bed when I was growing up.”<br/>“So, what your saying is; you’re conditioned to sleep after having a mug of cocoa?”<br/>“Exactly!”<br/>A smile tugged at Hopper’s lips as he watched her swap the drink for the double cheeseburger with extra pickles. She moaned with the first bite, the elderly couple at the booth behind her peering over with bemused expressions. She slipped down the leather bench, her foot sliding between Hopper’s. He chuckled, happy that the burger had lived up to expectation. He reached for his own, taking a bite before he noticed Evelyn watching him, a look he couldn’t quite place glimmering in her evergreen eyes. <br/>“What?” He asked slowly, trying to figure out what she was thinking.<br/>“If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth?” <br/>That wasn’t what Hopper was expecting. He thought for a moment, pausing to swallow and lick his lips before he answered her. “Depends on the question.”<br/>“Did Joey really have an affair with Mrs McNully before he left Hawkins?”<br/>Hopper spluttered, almost choking on the crumbs still in his mouth.<br/>“<i>What?!</i>”<br/>“There were rumours, and well, I saw her practically throw herself at the boys in my class so-“<br/>“No! Not ever.” Hopper washed down the food with a gulp of water, eyes fixed on Evelyn as she giggled, eventually hiccupping around her hand. He watched as her cheeks grew red, though from embarrassment or laughter, he couldn’t tell. This time she managed to  gasp out an apology to the booth behind her when they turned. </p><p>When she had calmed down, Hopper spoke again, quieter this time. “She…propositioned him during the senior dance.” He held his hand up as soon as Evelyn looked like she was about to scream. “She said she needed to talk and when he came back, he looked like he was going to hurl.” He pulled the pack of camels from his pocket, choosing one at random before smiling as they triggered another memory. “I was outside, having a smoke, hiding from Mr Cooper one last time…Joey, he, he came out, snatched the cigarette from my hand, took a hit and almost choked.” Hopper toyed with the lighter in his hand, savouring the memory for the moment before he lit the cigarette. “That was the only time I ever saw him smoke.”</p><p>When he looked back at Evelyn her eyes were soft, her smile wide. She chuckled quietly, much calmer now. “He used to say he liked the smell, but not the taste.” She recalled, thinking back to a conversation so old it barely seemed real. She reached across the table, her hand closing over Hopper’s knuckles. “Thank you. We weren’t allowed to talk much about Joey after he was gone and so, memories like this…well, they’re nice.” <br/>Hopper placed his other hand on hers, smiling gently. “Hey, you ever want to reminisce, I’m sure I can talk Joyce into having El for the night.”<br/>“El? Is that short for Eleanor?” <br/>Hopper paused, reminding himself that this was normal now. People could ask him about his kid and he could tell them some semblance of a story. “Actually, no. Jane.” He chuckled at Evelyn’s furrowed brow, the way her postured softened as she tried – and failed – to find the connection there. “It’s a long story.”<br/>“And we’re out of time.” Evelyn nodded her head towards the neon clock on the wall. It was just after nine and their plates were empty, save for crumbs and the odd drop of ketchup.<br/>She was reaching for her wallet when Hopper threw the cash down on the table. “It’s on me.”<br/>“You don’t have to-“<br/>“It’s on me.” Hopper insisted, raising his eyebrows and staring Evelyn down until she relented. “A little something to brighten up an otherwise shit day.”<br/>“I had completely forgotten about it.” Evelyn admitted honestly, feeling like the ripped stockings and the classroom tedium had been a part of someone else’s life.<br/>“Good.” He looked away and then quickly looked back at Evelyn, this time his eyes homing in on her lips. <br/>“That slush has turned your entire mouth blue.” He stated, shaking his head.<br/>She laughed, showing her pearly white teeth were also a gradient of purply-blue, and her tongue looked a similar shade to the blueberries that grew up on the farms. Hopper wasn’t sure if it was the infectious laughter or the ridiculous state of her that caused his own laugh to rumble in his chest.</p><p>“Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.”</p><p> </p><p>Outside, the laughter was over, and the cold night air washed over them. Evelyn hugged herself a little tighter and Hopper zipped his own coat up. Her keys rattled as she pulled them out, turning back to Hopper to thank him one last time.<br/>He held up his hands and shook his head. “Don’t say it.”<br/>“Say what?”<br/>“Don’t thank me. It was my pleasure.”<br/>Evelyn touched her ear, for what Hopper counted was the fourth time that evening and he took a step towards her to let someone get to the car parked besides her GTI.<br/>“Don’t waste your time on him, honey.” Evelyn jumped slightly, peering around Hopper to watch a brunette with glasses unlock the car. Hopper rolled his eyes, recognising Marissa’s disapproving tone. “The only thing he’s capable of loving is the bottom of a bottle.” Even after all this time, Hawkins librarian still wouldn’t let go of Hopper’s mistake. “He won’t call after tonight.”<br/>“Well, my phone line isn’t installed yet, so I wasn’t expecting him to.” Hopper bit back a laugh, Evelyn surprising him with her quick response and raised eyebrows.<br/>“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” If looks could kill, Hopper was sure he’d have been stone cold dead in the diner’s parking lot before Marissa was out of there.<br/>“Well that was interesting.” Evelyn said, her eyebrows raised in disbelief as she watched the car vanish down the dark road.<br/>“Sorry about that. She, uh, it’s-“<br/>“A long story?” Evelyn finished, smiling up at Hopper.<br/>“And we’re out of time.” He quoted, happy that Evelyn didn’t seem uncomfortable by the interrupted end to the evening.<br/>She nodded, giving his hand another light squeeze before she turned back to her car, tucking her curls behind her ear. “Goodnight, Hop.”<br/>“G’Night, Evie.” She was already pulling out of the parking space when he remembered that no one called her that anymore.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next chapter is a little...hot. Hopefully it makes up for the slower start &lt;3</p><p>I have quite a bit of this story blocked out and drafted, so hopefully I can keep updating daily for a little while longer!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Blueberry Lips</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>slight nsfw at the end &lt;3</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hopper was still smiling when he cut the Blazer’s engine outside of his cabin. El hopped out of the car without a word, shivering on the porch as he took his time finding the door key.<br/>“I told you to take a coat.” He said, eyebrows raised as he used the “told you so” tone that she always responded to with a silent glare.<br/>She was on the couch, TV on before Hopper even had his coat off. “One hour and then bed.” She nodded; eyes glued to the screen as she searched for something to watch.<br/>Even when she was silent, attention entirely on the television screen, Hopper enjoyed the company. He went to the refrigerator, reaching in and pulling out a beer, cracking it open before he sat down in his chair, flipping the handle at the side to extend the leg rest. He didn’t realise he was humming until El spoke up.<br/>“Happy?”<br/>“What?”<br/>“You’re happy?”<br/>“Yeah, I am, kid.” <br/>“Why?”<br/>Hopper shifted his weight to the left so he could face El better. “Well, I was with a friend.” She stared at him, waiting for more of an explanation. Jesus, was it really so rare that he was happy? “Are you happy when you spend time with Mike and the others?”<br/>“Yes.”<br/>“Then it’s the same thing.”<br/>That seemed to be enough for El, so she turned back to the television, knees tucked up under her chin.</p><p>Evelyn was easy to talk to. She knew only the good parts of his past which he felt made the conversation flow easier. There were no pained glances, apologetic expressions. She didn’t know his past mistakes to judge him on them – or at least she hadn’t until grudge holding Marissa parked beside her. Honestly, tonight had been a nice change of pace for him. It was comfortable and funny, and if El hadn’t needed picking up he suspected they’d still be sitting there, talking about the past, about a time before the pains of reality had sank her claws deep into the both of them, with Evelyn’s lips still stained blue</p><p>Hopper paid some attention to the show on his TV. He wasn’t following along with it, but instead thinking about the evening. He didn’t give much time to himself, always working or worrying about El and the safety of everyone else in the town. Sometimes he shared a drink with Joyce, but after everything that had happened with Will she liked to be home most of the time, just in case. He kept telling her that it was over, that everything was back to normal. Maybe it was time he let himself think it too. He drove out to the old lab at least once a week to make sure it hadn’t been vandalised or secretly reopened. It stood still, silent, a grim monument to what had nearly become of Hawkins. El wanted a normal life. She wanted to go to school with the others one day, to join them at the arcade. Hopper was taking it slowly. Each month he expanded the radius for her. She could go to Mike’s now, could be at Joyce’s if they were having a movie night there. The arcade – and the rest of town – would come soon enough. Maybe then he could spend more time just grabbing dinner with a friend or sharing memories over a drink. </p><p>He had enjoyed being with Evelyn tonight. She was considerably younger, but that made him feel lighter, like he didn’t need to take the world so seriously. He knew now that she had a sharp sense of humour, that her easy laugh was contagious, and that she was hardworking and committed to her job even on the bad days. So why was she alone? <br/>That last thought came out of nowhere, crashing to the forefront of Jim Hopper’s mind like a brick through a window. It was none of his business why she was alone, and it was something he should be concerned about even less.</p><p>But she was living in the middle of the woods, alone, with her closest neighbour a fair distance away. If she screamed in the night Hopper doubted they’d hear her from his cabin. He had every right to worry about that – as the Chief of Police it was in the job description to ensure that the residents of Hawkins were safe. She had said her phone line wasn’t set up…maybe he should push her on that, make sure she had some way of contacting another person if anything went wrong, even if it was something as simple as a blown fuse.</p><p>“Good night.” El stirred him from his thoughts, standing up and moving towards her room.<br/>“G’night, kid.” Hop stood up, ruffling her short hair as he moved from his chair to the porch. He always enjoyed his last cigarette out there, no matter the weather. <br/>With how cold it was he finished his smoke quickly, locking up once he was back inside and making his way to his own room, a place cordoned off with a shower curtain instead of a door. Stripping out of the uniform and flopping down on his bed, Hopper closed his eyes immediately, blindly feeling around for the bedsheets.</p><p> </p><p>Her lips were on him. She trailed blueberry kisses down his neck, her smooth legs sliding over his. Her teeth nipped at his ear, sweet, sugary laughter washing over him as she ground down on him. His hands gripped her hips, fingers pressing into the soft flesh. <br/>“Now we’ve got all the time in the world.” She promised him, her voice laced with wicked desires. <br/>He groaned, pressing up into her, wondering just when she had lost her clothes. His eyes were closed, but he knew she was grinning like the damn Cheshire Cat as she shimmied down his body, her lips wrapping around his hard cock. Her mouth was hot, but her tongue was cold, making him jump, but the sensation was unlike anything he had felt before. He groaned, covering his face with his arms, his body turning to jelly as she curled her fingers around him, sliding her mouth down his length. He felt the back of her throat and spasmed, clutching her hair with one hand as she bobbed up and down, chuckling around his cock whenever he bucked into her. The vibrations only made it better. Her laugh was irresistible at the best of times, but now – now it was a drug, he wanted more of it as she sucked him in, hollowing her cheeks around him. <br/>“Fuuuck.”<br/>Her lips came off him with an audible ‘pop’. “You like that, huh?” <br/>“Don’t stop.”  <br/>He was throat deep again, his cock throbbing in her mouth as her fingers lightly teased his heavy balls. He cried out, fisting her dark curls as she drove him closer to the brink. His eyes were squeezed shut, his breathing ragged, and he knew he couldn’t hold it off much longer.<br/>“I’m gonna – I’m close.”<br/>She moaned around him, hollowing her cheeks again and taking him deep. He felt the heat building, felt the blood racing through his body, felt the pressure become almost unbearable and then –</p><p>That fucking alarm. </p><p>Hopper smacked it, rolling over to find his cock stabbing the mattress. He was rock hard. He hadn’t been this hard in the morning for a very, very long time. He barely remembered the dream at first, fragments of it slowly coming back as he tried to get comfortable. That did not help his situation. His cock twitched against the bed sheets and he found himself instinctively reaching for it, palming it over the cotton as he groaned.<br/>This was not a good thing.<br/>It had not been a good dream.<br/>It was awkward, inexplicable, and it felt downright rude.</p><p>But then, wasn’t it just the same as the time he had dreamt of that MTV popstar touching him in criminally inappropriate ways? Hopper hadn’t felt anything for her and yet she had still found her way to him as he slept? It was just a dream, probably brought on by how focused he had been on Evelyn slurping that ridiculously slushie in the middle of winter. The last thing he had seen of her had been indigo lips stretching as she drove away. </p><p>It wasn’t going away. He was still hard. He knew he had to move soon. He also knew that if he didn’t do something about the heat pooling in his stomach that he’d spend the rest of the day in a foul mood. There was no choice. He fisted his cock beneath the sheets, letting out a soft groan as his eyes fluttered shut and he allowed himself to think about the dream again, and his old friend’s sister.<br/>“Sorry, Joey.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>We've all had those delicious dreams with people we never thought about before, right? They're wicked and brilliant but you wake up feeling confused - sometimes ashamed - and still wanting more of them!</p><p>Hope you enjoyed! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Dirty Laundry</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Evelyn found her feet over the next couple of weeks. She fell into a rhythm with her classes, figuring out what worked best for each of them. She didn’t expect every student in her classroom to fall in love with science the way she had done, but she at least hoped they’d pay enough attention so she could pass them. Contrary to popular belief amongst many students, Evelyn had never met a teacher who enjoyed failing someone; after all, the final grade was also a reflection of their teaching. She was starting to put names to faces, recognise those who needed extra encouragement from those who enjoyed being offered more of a challenge. The horrible feeling left from her first day felt like a nearly forgotten bad dream. </p><p>She’d also purchased a loveseat and armchair for the cabin so she could stop lesson planning in her bed, or from the dining table where both chairs seemed to have wonky legs. The salesman kept trying to force something more modern on her, something with a heftier price tag. However, as much as Evelyn loved the fashion of the era, she didn’t think the sharp geometric pattern would fit the rustic cabin. She had selected a beige plaid pattern, and a plain armchair, finally shutting the salesman down with a look when he pointed to the furniture set in the window. Both looked perfect once she had them inside her home, twisted at an angle from the door and facing the small temperamental television that she was certain had a loose wire for the amount of times it flickered off when she was trying to watch something.</p><p>She had her phoneline installed, Hopper apparently calling in a favour to have it done the weekend before she had been told an engineer could do it. No one had called her yet, beside the one short call from Hop to check it was working properly. He had been right; she felt better just knowing it was there, that it was working, and she could reach anyone if she needed them. She thought about phoning her friends in Milwaukee, but her fingers never dialled the numbers. Something inside said they wouldn’t understand the life she was living now. Maybe it was all the questions they had asked when she announced her plans to come home. Maybe it was the scoffs whenever she had tried to explain how nice Hawkins was. Or maybe it was Evelyn herself; maybe she really wanted to close that chapter on her life and not look back on it.</p><p>Evelyn had also stopped by to check on her dad a few times, never outstaying her welcome once she had checked there was plenty of food in the cupboards and that the old man wasn’t laying on the floor somewhere unable to get up. Reg insisted constantly that he didn’t need her help. Whenever she called by (which wasn’t that often at all) he would ask why the hell she had come back to Hawkins. It didn’t matter what answer she gave him it simply wasn’t good enough. And then he would get on at her about settling down, finding a man to look after her. Evelyn hated that conversation. It wasn’t as though she had fought every man who showed an interest in her, chased them away so she could spend her days alone. And her father knew that – he damn well knew it. Sometimes she thought he might actually enjoy upsetting people. So, she stayed only as long as it took to make sure he didn’t need anything and then she was gone again. </p><p>In between all of that, she had only managed to see Hopper twice. They grabbed coffee one slow Saturday morning when he had bumped into her coming out of Melvald’s, and again after school on Wednesday when she had stopped by the station to hand in some permit forms for a school fundraising event. These impromptu hang outs were short, the pair sharing anecdotes about their week, and laughing over things like old school memories and childish dreams. Their conversations were always light, pleasant, and left a spring in Evelyn’s step when she walked away from them. She had been getting back in touch with old friends, making plans around their busy lives and their families, but sometimes it was nice to be able to grab a drink in the spur of the moment. Evelyn’s social life had been thriving when she lived in the city, and she wanted something similar even in this very different place she called home. She knew if she wasn’t busy or going out with friends that she’d go stir crazy living alone in a cabin on the outskirts of the town.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn had come into the centre of town this particular morning to use the laundromat. The cabin didn’t have a washing machine and getting one was somewhere way down on her to-do list. She didn’t mind flicking through a magazine for a couple of hours while she washed her clothes. She popped the money in the slot, checked the settings and left her basket sitting atop the machine. She took a seat on the backless bench, leaning forward with her elbows pressing into her knees as she opened the first page of the glossy magazine. It wasn’t normally something she would read, but every now and then she needed to take a break from scientific articles and textbook passages. Plus, she was on the fence about the more colourful fashion now in style. She loved it but wasn’t sure if she could pull any of it off. The knock at the window startled her away from Cindy Crawford in tight pastel sweaters. Hop raised his hand in an awkward wave and Evelyn pushed herself to her feet, slipping out of the warm laundromat to greet him properly. The cold air hit her at once and she shivered, folding her arms tightly across her chest.<br/>“Morning.” She began, flicking her curly hair from her eyes as the wind battled back against her. “I see it’s another busy day for the Chief of Police.” <br/>“I’ve been up to see your dad.” He explained, pausing to light the cigarette hanging from his lips. “Seems he’s been causing trouble again; arguing with the McMillans.”<br/>Evelyn sighed, shaking her head as she leaned back against the rough red brick. “I’m sorry, Hop. I’d talk to him but-“<br/>“It wouldn’t do any good, I know.” Evelyn had mentioned her stubborn dad, how he was refusing to let her help him with anything despite barely being able to make it into town to pick up his prescriptions alone.<br/>“Maybe I should call Frank, see if he can do something.” She smiled, but there was a cheekiness behind it. “I’m sure Josie and George would love to see their old pop.” <br/>Hopper chuckled, looking at the empty street.  It was unusually quiet for a Saturday morning, even with foreboding grey skies hanging over them. “I bet he’d love that.” His attention turned back to Evelyn. “You spoke to Frank lately?”<br/>She shook her head, looking down at the scuffed toe of her boots, where the soft leather was starting to crack. “No. I called and spoke to his wife – Elaine. He was at some conference talking about teeth, probably.”<br/>“I can’t think of anything more boring than a room full of dentists.”<br/>Evelyn nodded in agreement, her smile stretching up her rosy cheeks. “And he says he left Hawkins because it was too dull.” </p><p> </p><p>Frank may have been her only surviving brother, but he had always been her least favourite. He had been stand-offish most of his life, always looking down his nose at people. He was a lot like their father, with firm opinions that never, ever wavered. He had thought Evelyn had done the right thing moving away from town but thought teaching science was the biggest mistake she could make. Apparently, there was nothing attractive about an intelligent woman, and she’d have been better doing something more applicable to her own life. The siblings hadn’t talked much after that conversation, aside from holidays and birthdays and whenever something had happened to their father.</p><p> </p><p>“Wanna grab a drink later and shit talk him?” Hopper was smirking when Evelyn looked up at him; the kind of smirk that suggested trouble and too much bourbon. “El’s having a sleepover at Max’s so I don’t have a curfew.” It had become a sort of joke between them about Hop having to be home at a certain time. Evelyn actually found it sweet that he worked so damn hard at building that trust in the relationship. She had known too many parents who wouldn’t even think of doing that with their biological children, let alone an adopted one.<br/>“I can’t.” Evelyn began apologetically, turning to directly face him. “I’m having dinner with Scott Clarke tonight.”<br/>“The science teacher from Hawkins Middle?” Hopper asked, feeling something heavy and unpleasant drop to his stomach.<br/>Evelyn nodded. “We’ve had plans for the last few weeks, but he got the flu and cancelled and then I had a headache and couldn’t make it…” She shook her head, smiling slightly. “It’s been a mess – but we’re finally both healthy and well, so we’re going out tonight.”<br/>“Oh.” Hopper didn’t know what to say. He felt strange all of a sudden, almost sick even. He was hot despite the cold, aching without any physical pain.<br/>“Yeah, he offered to give me the rundown on the kids – y’know, the ones moving up to the high school come summer. Let me know what I’m in for, teacher to teacher.” <br/>“Oh, so it’s a work thing?” The nausea faded, and he moved a little closer to Evelyn, telling himself it was so the lady with the stroller could pass by easily.<br/>“Yeah, I guess.” She nodded, shivering slightly. “Hop, it’s freezing out here. I really should go back inside.”<br/>“You probably should, yeah.” He opened the door for her, his arm stretched over her head. “How about we shit talk Frank on Friday then? We could grab some dinner? Enzo’s?”<br/>“I haven’t been there yet.” Evelyn smiled, barely aware of Hopper leaning into her. “I heard the food is amazing.”<br/>“So, say seven? Friday?” His voice was soft and deep, his eyes catching the light in hers.<br/>“I’ll meet you there. The science club runs until five thirty and they’re never out on time. Or if they are, they’ve left one hell of a mess.” She explained, twisting her body around the door frame as she slipped back inside the laundromat<br/>“It’s a date.” The words were out of Hopper’s mouth before he could stop them and suddenly, he became flustered, shifting his weight from side to side. “I mean, you know, a shit talking date.”<br/>“Aren’t they the best kind?” She asked with a wicked grin and a playful wink, turning back inside and letting Hop drop the door back into place.<br/>He walked away with a similar grin, his step a little lighter. Hell, he even greeted Eleanor Gillespie with a smile and a wave; it was practically unheard of.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I feel like taking the new science teacher under his wing is something Scott Clarke would just do, you know?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Jiminy Fucking Cricket</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So, it’s a date?” Joyce was placing price labels on sale items as Hopper told her about his dinner plans. He stood behind her, hands on his hips.<br/>
“No. It’s dinner and talking about Frank and how he’s an asshole.” He felt like he had explained this already.<br/>
“Dinner at Enzo’s.”<br/>
“What difference does it make?”<br/>
Joyce stood up, shrugging with the label gun before turning to the next bay of items. “I just think you need to be honest with yourself about what you want.”<br/>
“What the hell does that mean?” Hopper was starting to wonder why every conversation he had with Joyce felt like a conversation with Jiminy fucking Cricket.<br/>
Joyce sighed, her head lolling forward. “It means; is this really about old stories and Joey Carter? Or, are you <i>maybe</i> looking for something more?”</p><p>Hop tucked his tongue to his cheek. The first time he had seen Evie after <i>that</i> dream had been awkward. He felt as though he ought to apologise to her, even though she was clueless as to what deliciously dark alley his dream addled mind had wandered down. Hiding his true thoughts had been enough to break him out in a small sweat, smiling across the table at her when his hands felt dirty. He hadn’t had that dream or anything like it again, but seeing Evie was definitely something that interfered with his thoughts for the rest of the day.</p><p>“She’s pretty…” Joyce peered up at Hop, trying to read his face. “And she’s smart.” She stood up, facing him fully. “And she makes you laugh.”<br/>
“I never said that.”<br/>
“You said she was funny; it’s the same thing.”<br/>
Hop remained silent with his lips pressed tight together.<br/>
“And if we’re honest…Joey’s been dead a very long time.”<br/>
“Hey-“<br/>
“I’m just saying that you’re not going to end up with a black eye if you do like her.” Joyce raised her hands, not wanting this to turn into a fight.<br/>
“I’m looking out for her.” Hopper insisted gruffly.<br/>
“With dinner?”<br/>
“I’ve had dinner with you before.” He argued, following Joyce up the aisle towards the front of Melvald’s.<br/>
“Yes – while the kids were eating junk food and watching Ghostbusters.” Joyce tilted her head, waiting for his next argument. “It’s different, Hop – and you know it is.”<br/>
“Look, I only came in here to ask if El could stay the night at your place, not to have my choices questioned by the Spanish Inquisition.”<br/>
“Of course, El can stay at my place. But you asking is exactly what makes me think this is different than friends grabbing dinner.” Joyce stared Hopper down, waiting for a flicker in his grumpy expression that would give him away.<br/>
“She’s stayed at yours before.”<br/>
“Yes – when everyone else did, or the one time you spent the night up at Eugene’s because the farm had been vandalised and you wanted to make sure that’s all it was.”<br/>
Teenagers grew bored quickly in small towns, and with the mall coming soon they seemed to have an even bigger itch to scratch. Hopper had been nervous that there was something more sinister breaking fences and burning crops in the night, but it had really just been three bored delinquents up to no good on a Saturday night.</p><p>When Hopper didn’t respond, Joyce pushed further. “Look, I don’t think it’s a bad idea. It’s great that you’re going out with someone who isn’t under eighteen or me. I just think that, maybe, it’s time to leave the fifties and sixties where they are.”<br/>
“It’s what we have in common.” Hopper said, brow creased in confusion. “It’s what we like talking about.”<br/>
“And that’s good, but I’m sure there’s more.” Joyce re-taped a loose sign about a missing cat back to the window as she spoke. “I mean, the last time you saw her she wasn’t even ten. You might have a lot more to talk about if you try.”<br/>
“Or I spend two hours in awkward silence.” Hop ran his hand over his hair. “She’s not going to want to hear about me.” He mumbled, looking down at the floor, his boot rubbing over a dried piece of chewing gum.<br/>
“More like you don’t want to talk about you.” Joyce countered, earning herself a glare. “You both like music – start with that.”<br/>
“<i>Old</i> music, and apparently we shouldn’t talk about past things.” Hop was being petulant, difficult just because he wanted to be.<br/>
“That’s not what I meant and you damn well know it.” Joyce prodded him in the chest, frowning up at him.  “Just…give her more than a chance to relive old memories; give her Jim Hopper <i>now</i>. You never know - she might like him.”</p><p> </p><p>Hopper spent the rest of the day scowling in his office. The conversation with Joyce had left a bad taste in his mouth. The only thing he had to offer Evie was memories of her brother, and of the town they called home. That was why she spent time with him. It was the stories of a brother she could no longer talk to that kept her laughing, not Hopper. Or at least that was what he kept telling himself. </p><p>Evie was so much younger than him, and life hadn’t left her jaded or miserable yet. He would only drag her down if he attempted to pursue any kind of relationship with her. She deserved someone of her intelligence, of her wit. Someone like Scott Clarke, perhaps. Joyce said the kids loved him and maybe after their little dinner Evie felt the same. Well, maybe she wouldn’t feel <i>love</i> after one meal, but maybe she felt something…a spark, a connection, a glimpse at a possible future.</p><p>Joyce was right. Hopper represented the past to Evie. He was a bundle of memories in the form of a tall, grumpy police chief who only really felt like a good person when he was with El, or Joyce, or…well, Evie. But did he feel good for all the wrong reasons when he was with her?</p><p>Sighing, he kicked his feet up onto the desk and lit another cigarette, his last one not long stubbed out in the full ashtray. He knew Evie was polite, but he didn’t think she was the sort of polite who never said no. If she didn’t want to have dinner with him she would have said so, right? So…she <i>did</i> want to have dinner with him…<br/>
But why?<br/>
Hopper couldn’t perceive that she might actually like him. He was older, gave her blank looks when the conversation turned to science class topics, and his reputation painted him as one of the worst guys in town for a girl like her to be with. It didn’t matter if he had left the pills in the medicine cabinet, or if he only had one beer now after work. No one seemed to pay attention to the fact that he hadn’t taken a woman to bed since El came into his life. There were still too many - like Marissa – who only saw the police chief as a lazy, bad mannered oaf. Sometimes, it was all he saw, too.</p><p>But Evie hadn’t been around for all that. Then again, people talked. Not to mention there was a lot he would never be able to tell her about, such as the truth behind Will Byers going missing the year before last, or El’s powers. As much as Hopper insisted that life in Hawkins was back to normal, he didn’t think he would ever be. He was trying to make sure El knew she couldn’t use her powers out in public and that was hard enough. It was one thing for Mike and Will and the rest of their little gang to know, but it was entirely different outside of them. The few people who had glimpsed her in the past had been concerned enough to call the police, and Hop didn’t want to spend the next couple of years encouraging her to live a normal life while also chasing her around because some people got suspicious. He would never be able to explain why he went out to Hawkins Lab every week, just for his own peace of mind.</p><p>What was he thinking? There was no way in hell he could have a relationship with Evie Carter. Joey would have wanted her to have so much more than Hopper could offer. Hell, <i>he</i> wanted her to have more. But what if Joyce had been right again? What if none of that mattered now because Joey was long gone and Evie was perfectly capable of making her own choices.</p><p>He dropped his head to his forearms, pressing down as though he could force the budding headache out of his skull and into the desk he rested upon. How was it, as twelve-year olds, El and Mike had handled feelings and worries better than a grown fucking man? Hopper was exhausted, and he hadn’t even been called out of the office today. He couldn’t spend the rest of the week like this, counting down the hours until seven o’clock Friday. It would drive him insane trying to figure out what he wanted, what he could give, and what the hell Evie may want.<br/>
All Hop knew was that Joyce Byers had a lot to answer for. He hadn’t questioned any of this before their conversation this morning, and now it was <i>all</i> he could think about.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry there's no date yet! But we need a little bit of grumpy ol' Jim questioning everything before we can move on.<br/>Man needs a good hug.</p><p>Also, I managed to write up so much of this fic yesterday. I'm so happy that I can keep delivering this on a daily basis for now. I haven't had this kind of inspiration in a very long time.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Scotch on the Rocks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The week seemed to drag by. On Tuesday, Evelyn bought a new dress, specifically with Friday night in mind. She hadn’t gone out to buy something new, but the crimson velvet caught her eye in the dimly lit store window. Evelyn had tried it on, her thoughts dallying down the road to a realm of far flung possibilities in which Jim Hopper wanted more than just dinner with her. The dress had fitted like a glove. It accentuated her hips, hugged her chest and the skirt flared in the perfect spot to hide that tiny swell of her belly that had come along after a knee injury called time on her running days; a feature Evelyn was more insecure about than she ought to be. She was faced with a dilemma though, as she stood in the small changing room, peering at her reflection. </p><p>Evelyn had to work on Friday, that much she knew for sure. This dress was not something she could get away with wearing at Hawkins High. The sweetheart neckline was not classroom appropriate. But if she put a sweater on – maybe the black turtleneck – she could pass the dress off as a skirt instead. It came to her knees which was a little shorter than she usually wore in the classroom, but black stockings could make it modest. She could, of course, change entirely at school and wear one of her normal work outfits, but Evelyn felt like time would not be on her side and she’d hate to be late to dinner. </p><p>After she bought the dress, Evelyn started to worry that it was too much. Enzo’s was a nice restaurant from what she had heard, and while the dress would no doubt be perfect for dinner, she wasn’t sure it would be perfect for Hopper. When they had spent time together previously, Evelyn had been in jeans and sneakers, or was in a dress that had been crumpled by a long day in a high school. This was the first real time they had planned something. The first time that he had asked her out in advance and not in the spur of the moment. That put more pressure on Evelyn, left her with more questions. </p><p>She enjoyed spending time with Hopper. He was probably the one person in town she was truly excited to see. Hell, if she drove past the police station and the Blazer wasn’t there, she felt a little sad. It made her feel ridiculous; she wasn’t even going out to see him most days – the station was just on her way to and from the high school. It had been a very long time since Evelyn had had a crush on anyone, and she didn’t recognise this as one now. It wasn’t like her heart skipped a beat when she saw Hop. She didn’t find herself looking for excuses to call him either. He just made her smile, cheered her up without even trying and that left her thoughts focused on him for the rest of the day – if not longer. She didn’t know what this was. She didn’t know if nostalgia made him her favourite person in Hawkins, or if some remnant of grief made her want to see him. It had even crossed her mind, albeit very briefly, that maybe this was how attraction brewed when you got older. She hadn’t been in love for a very long time, and it had probably been even longer since she felt attracted to someone. Evelyn didn’t know what the signs were anymore – and she taught teenagers who were constantly falling in love with each other and themselves.</p><p> </p><p>For the rest of the week, every time she saw the red velvet against the dark wood of her wardrobe, she felt like this was all a big mistake. Hopper had said it wasn’t a date; it was just shit talking and drinking over – what she hoped was – some good food. Maybe she could play the dress off and act like she enjoyed dressing up whenever she had the chance to. A dress could simply be just a dress. It didn’t have to mean anything, right? Right. It was a pretty dress, she liked it, and there would always be other chances to wear it again. It wasn’t going to be soaked in the memory of that one dinner. It wasn’t going to be like the orange summer dress in the shadows of her wardrobe; the one that now only reminded her of one sunny afternoon that had turned into one hell of a storm. No. Not at all. She simply wouldn’t let it.</p><p>As Friday drew near, Evelyn felt the butterflies in her stomach multiplying. Her classes on Friday were chaotic – at least by her standards. She had loaded the slides onto the projector in the wrong order, she dropped the test questions when she was handing them out, and she stumbled over the names of students she had been certain she had memorised. At lunch Miss Click complimented her skirt, and Evelyn had to take a moment to stop herself from telling the unsuspecting history teacher that it was a dress and that she had a date with Jim Hopper tonight. She had a feeling no one would appreciate that, least of all Hopper. Miss Click’s sentiment was one shared by Nancy Wheeler in sixth period.<br/>
“It’s really cute, Miss Carter.”<br/>
“Thanks, Nancy.” Evelyn glanced down at herself, wondering if maybe she could pull this sort of thing off more often. She hadn’t ever thought about dressing down her nicer clothes for work, instead sticking to older outfits she cared for less, knowing that if something spilt on them it wouldn’t matter.</p><p> </p><p>Science club was an easy one. The boys and one girl who made up the group came through the door already debating various theories about black holes and the possibility of one consuming their universe. Evelyn was happy enough to let them continue, throwing out the little bits of data and quotes that she knew of. Space was the one scientific topic in which her knowledge was sort of lacking. The members of the science club didn’t seem to mind though, and she let them use the board to draw out their ideas while she watched from her desk. The whole point of the club was, in Evelyn’s opinion, to encourage the application and research of science outside of the structured lessons. Some weeks she got out the chemistry equipment and others they debated findings and theories. Since this was one of the latter it did little to distract her from the dinner date. She ushered the teenagers out at a quarter to six, fifteen minutes later than planned, but not so unusual. When they were gone, she grabbed her purse and headed to the bathroom.</p><p>Evelyn shoved her sweater into her bag, smoothing her hands over the soft velvet of the dress. She switched her comfy loafers and opaque stockings for a pair of white high heels, taking a few “warm up” steps to adjust to the change. She redid her make-up, darkening the brown eyeshadow over her lids, and sweeping a red lipstick across her lips. She fished around in her purse, moving receipts and keys until she found the chunky white hoops at the bottom. She pushed them into her ears and then stepped back to fluff her curls and give them a quick pick-me-up with a blast of hairspray. She kept perfume in her bag, but rarely used it, however tonight she sprayed just a tiny bit of Poison and then gave herself a final look over in the splotchy bathroom mirror.<br/>
“Not bad, Evelyn.” She ruffled her curls once more and checked her teeth were lipstick free. “Not bad at all.”</p><p> </p><p>She arrived at Enzo’s before Hopper. In fact, she was fifteen minutes early in the end. The waiter led her to a table in the middle of the crowded restaurant and offered her a menu to look over while she waited. Evelyn turned down his suggestion of a drink but did ask for some water for the table. Her butterflies had turned into bubbles of anxiety as she waited for Hopper to arrive.</p><p> </p><p>After forty-five minutes and a glass of water, she ordered scotch on the rocks, sipping at it while looking around embarrassingly. She felt people glancing her way, noticing the waiter bringing bread to the table and checking if she needed anything. It was only the fourth time he had asked so far. Her heart was beating a little faster and she looked over the menu again; she wasn’t reading it but simply trying to distract herself from the people, the noise, the clock mounted on the wall to her left.</p><p> </p><p>Fifty minutes after that she ordered her second scotch on the rocks, drinking this one a little faster as she picked at a bread roll. Her face was warm, but Evelyn didn’t know if it was from the third scotch she quickly ordered or if it was from the humiliation of being sat in a restaurant alone, over an hour after her date was supposed to join her. If she didn’t have the glass in her hand she was picking at her cuticles, pushing them back with her short, tidy nails. And if she wasn’t doing that then she was tugging at the hoops in her ears, her mind cruelly only recalling all the bad moments in her life – especially those ones that had been born out of romance.</p><p> </p><p>She ought to have left then – before then even – but she kept holding out hope that Hopper would walk through the door, his imposing figure taking up most of the space as he squeezed by other couples and their tables to reach her. She kept imagining his apology, how he’d immediately go into a story that could only suit Hawkins and that would make all this waiting seem worth it. She thought of how he’d light his cigarette as he talked, reaching across the white tablecloth to touch her hand when he apologised again. And then she thought how fucking foolish she was to think any of that was going to happen.</p><p> </p><p>It was half past nine, several of the tables around her now empty. Defeated, Evelyn asked for the bill. She leaned on the table, chin in the palm of her hand and her heart sinking low in her chest as she waited. A shadow cast over her and she looked up, expecting the waiter and yet hoping it would be Hopper, even though the shadow was nowhere near right for him. Instead, she found herself looking up into the familiar face of the woman who had badmouthed Hopper to her outside the diner.<br/>
“I warned you, honey. The man’s no good.” There was a smugness behind her veiled sympathy. The man she was with slipped his arm around her shoulders and she was gone, leaving Evelyn to sink her teeth into her ruby red lips to fight off the hot tears as her cheeks burned.</p><p> </p><p>She glanced her eyes over the bill when it came, tossing some notes onto the dish and shoving the complimentary mint into her mouth as she left, not looking back. Evelyn kicked her heels off in her car, driving home barefoot and ignoring the voice of reason in the back of head as it quietly told her she probably had one too many drinks to drive home. It didn’t matter. She didn’t care. Once she was home her plan was to drink many, many more.<br/>
As many as it took to forget all about Jim Hopper.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I did mention angst in the tags...a few times...that was your warning...</p><p>I have a chapter coming up that's a little longer than normal; should I split it into two or would you enjoy a somewhat dramatic longer chapter?</p><p>Also PSA, no matter how upset you are, don't drink and drive. #dumbchoicesbysmartwomen.</p><p>&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. The Forgotten Girl</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hopper’s week was very different to Evelyn’s. There were bouts of trouble all over town; nothing serious, but enough to keep him, Callahan and Powell busy. From boundary disputes over a fence placement to kids trying – and failing - to shoplift from Fair Mart. By the time Friday came around he was more than looking forward to an evening with Evelyn accompanied with strong alcohol and maybe not as many old stories as he had thought. But that was all before he left the cabin, promising El that Joyce would pick her up after she collected Will from school, and reminding El to behave for her. Once that door shut and locked behind him, the world flipped itself on its head.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Chief, the phone’s been ringing all morning. Marty Smith didn’t come home last night.” Powell didn’t stand up with Hopper arrived, instead leaning back in his seat, tapping his pencil against the palm sized notepad he was holding.<br/>
Flo plucked the cigarette from Hop’s lips, extinguishing it even though she knew full well he’d light up again in his office. “And Rosemary Dalton called; there’s kids causing trouble down at the quarry again. She heard something last night coming from that direction – sounded like shrieking.”<br/>
“That’s Sattler’s business, not mine.” Hopper groaned, never happy when work started before he had his coffee and another cigarette.<br/>
“Probably getting drunk in their old man’s car.” Callahan grinned in a way that suggested he had done the same once.<br/>
“Backseat loving.” Powell corrected, sporting the same proud grin as he five fived Callahan.<br/>
“They have Lover’s Lake for that.” Hopper mumbled, grabbing himself a mug of not-so-hot coffee.<br/>
“Well folk are still nervous; have been ever since that body got dredged out of there the other year.” Flo said, shaking her head at the memory of what they had buried; the kid everyone had thought was Will Byers. “They never did identify him, did they?” She asked, causing Hopper to pause for a moment, mug halfway to his lips.<br/>
“No. He was too disfigured, y’know, from the water.” Hopper hated people bringing up Will’s disappearance, or the spate of infested fields from last Halloween. The “reality” that had been a cover up was too flimsy for his liking. One slip up and the carefully constructed walls around that lie would come crumbling.<br/>
Flo left to answer the ringing phone, leaving Hopper free to pick from the doughnuts sitting next to the coffee pot. He had just taken a bite when she called his name.<br/>
“I think you’ll want to take this.” She said, her face as sombre as her tone.</p><p> </p><p>“Jesus, Chief, what happened to him?”<br/>
The body on the bank of the quarry was mottled with blisters, but parts of it coated in a watery like slime while algae trailed from his fingers. What was out of place though was the blood and the speckling of fresh scars over the arms, neck and face. It didn’t look like anything Hopper had seen before and that left his heart racing. It didn’t help that the last time he was down here they were pulling what they thought was Will Byers’ body out of the water. And now –<br/>
“Well we know why Marty didn’t come home last night.” He turned away from the body, his breath forming in small clouds in the cool air of early spring<br/>
“No signs of foul play.” Powell confirmed, walking back from where Marty Smith was being carefully moved into the back of the ambulance. “Looks like he’s been dead since yesterday afternoon, Chief.”<br/>
“Did he drown?” Callahan asked, his face the kind of sickly pale that suggested he could do with an ambulance himself.<br/>
“His body wasn’t wet.” Hopper lit a cigarette, needing something to settle his nerves. “Not all of it anyway.” The first drag did what he needed it to do, and sweet lady nicotine dampened his anxiety. “Doesn’t he walk this way since he retired?”<br/>
“Sure does. Wife says he leaves around lunchtime, goes up Randolph, around Forest Hills and down past the junkyard up by Tippecanoe. Brings him to here and then he’s back up Cornwallis before his dinner is on the table.” Powell confirmed, memorised from the three phone calls Mrs Smith had already placed that morning.<br/>
“Poor guy was almost home.” Callahan shook his head, turning to Hopper for his next question. “Heart attack, y’think?”<br/>
“We won’t know until Gary’s had a look at him.” For the first time in his life, Hopper was hoping the man had just had a heart attack. It was much better than what was running through his head. “I’ll go break the news to Betty.”</p><p> </p><p>He wished he had more answers. He wished that there was something he could say to make Betty Smith’s grief more bearable. He wanted to tell her that Marty’s death was quick and painless, that he didn’t suffer out there on his own. He wanted to say that it was down to natural causes, just one of those things people feared would happen to them one day. In the end all he could say was that Marty was dead, his body had been found and that they wouldn’t know anything until after the autopsy. He had his hat in his hand the whole time he spoke, scared that if he put it down she would notice his hands shake.</p><p> </p><p>Hopper went back to the quarry that afternoon. He went alone. The whole time he was down there he had his gun in his hand, thumb on the safety, just in case. He examined the area where Marty had been found. There was dew lingering on the patches of grass, a slimy residue over the stones that reminded Hopper instantly of slugs. He saw one in the reeds, minding its own business as it lazily moved across the very spot where Marty had been recovered from earlier. Hopper had the area cordoned off, the twisting knot deep in his gut telling him it was for the best. Beyond the tape birds were gathering twigs for nests and insects scrambled over the jagged stones, trying their best to avoid his big, heavy boots, and the tape wouldn’t keep them out. The scene was already changed, in tiny microscopic ways that mattered.</p><p>There was a dozen <i>natural</i> things that could have killed Marty, Hopper told himself. In his head he counted all the ways; heart attack was the most obvious, but it could have been an aneurysm, too. Perhaps a stroke, or even a fall. The ground wasn’t even here, and Marty wasn’t exactly on the right side of seventy. Hopper mulled it over, pacing over the same three feet of pebble stone until he couldn’t take it anymore. </p><p>It was just after four when he arrived at the Roane County Coroner’s Office. He insisted on talking to Gary who was halfway through Marty’s autopsy.<br/>
“Jim, Jim, calm down. I’m not finished yet.”<br/>
“Yeah, but c’mon Gary, you’ve seen hundreds of bodies. What does it look like?”<br/>
Gary sighed, relenting and stepping back around the table where the uncaring lights of the morgue blanched Marty’s face. “It looks like a heart attack.”<br/>
“Looks like?” Hopper wanted – no - <i>needed</i> concrete answers.<br/>
“Well I won’t know for certain until I’m done here, and the lab work will take weeks to finalise, but I’ll be very surprised if it’s anything but a heart attack.” Gary looked at the body of someone he had known for most of his time in town and shook his head sadly. “Poor guy had fatty tissue around his heart. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened to him.”<br/>
“What- What about the marks on his body?” Hopper asked, hand coming up to rub along his jaw, his beard scratching his palm.<br/>
“These?” Gary pointed to the pox like scars. “Animals.”<br/>
“Animals?”<br/>
“Yeah, foxes, maybe a raccoon, or an opossum.” Gary walked around back to the side of the table where Hopper was standing. “He was out there all night, Jim, and the woods are right there. It’s not pretty, but if an animal sees a hunk of meat it’s going to try to eat it.”<br/>
“We got a call about noise down at the quarry last night. Kids screaming, that sort of thing.” His mind was running through all the possibilities, many of them outside of the realm of reality for most people.<br/>
“Have you ever heard a fox, Jim? They shriek and squeal at all hours of the night.”<br/>
“These marks seem too small…” Hop bent down to get a closer look at the shallow puncture wounds dotted around Marty’s collarbone.<br/>
“You’re forgetting smaller rodents like squirrels and rats and mice.” Gary let out a small laugh. “That quarry is home to all kinds of things.”<br/>
“But it was definitely a heart attack?” Hopper could feel his gut untwisting itself, slowly.<br/>
“It was <i>most likely</i> a heart attack. You know these things take time, Jim.” Gary could sense the unease rolling off Hopper and clapped a hand against his shoulder. “Once I know for sure, you’ll be the first person I call. Okay?”<br/>
Hopper nodded, still not completely satisfied, but he couldn’t say or do anything else without rousing suspicion.</p><p> </p><p>It was getting dark when Hopper turned the Blazer down Randolph. With El at Joyce’s he didn’t need to race back home to the cabin, and there was one final thing he could do that might help settle his nerves. The gates of Hawkins Lab were locked up tight, and Hopper hadn’t actually been inside since the last time; the day they sealed everything up and vacated for good. He cut the chain and swung the bolt cutters over his shoulder as he stepped inside the grounds of the old government facility. Slowly, he made his way to the main door, forcing his way inside. He reached for his flashlight, the click louder than he ever recalled it before. He shone the light across the derelict floor, pausing over the spot where Bob had been killed the year before. They never would have made it out of the building without Bob. Hell, they probably would have all died there if he hadn’t reset the power. It wasn’t fair that he had died that night. Joyce had never recovered from it. Hopper saw it from time to time, a flicker in her eye or the waver of her smile. If something really was happening here, something like before, he had no idea how to tell her.</p><p>He moved through the lab, checking every empty room and abandoned hallway. He looked in closets and bathrooms for any sign of someone being there. His own footsteps echoed down dark corridors, his shadow stretching in the torchlight as he moved around empty corners. Eventually he found himself in the belly of the beast; the room where the wall had once been cracked, where he had walked through to another world with Joyce and where he had protected El as she sealed it shut again. It was concrete and metal, dusty and abandoned. No one had been in the lab for some time, that much was clear. It eased his mind, the knotted anxiety released with a long sigh as he dropped to a crouch in the dark, still room. </p><p>It was all just a coincidence. Marty Smith had probably died of a heart attack during a walk too intense for a man of his age. He’d been out there all night because Betty Smith had fallen asleep shortly after dinner – side effects of a new medication - and hadn’t realised her husband was missing until the next morning. Animals had tasted Marty and decided he wasn’t all that good and the morning dew, coupled with the quarry water had left his corpse looking a little worse for wear. Everything was natural. It was normal; the sort of thing that happened to people all the time.</p><p> </p><p>Leaving the lab, Hopper wanted a drink and his bed. Today had left him exhausted. First, he had to pick El up from Joyce’s.</p><p>It was 10:30 when he knocked on the front door and he didn’t recognise Joyce’s look of surprise and confusion when she opened it.<br/>
“Movie finished?” He asked, stepping over the threshold.<br/>
“Date finished?” She retorted, eyes wide as she took in Hopper’s tired appearance and the uniform he was still wearing.<br/>
“What?” Realisation slammed into him like a bird into a windshield. “Oh no. No, no, no.” He pushed past Joyce, ignoring the kids shushing him as their movie reached the climax.<br/>
“Hop, you didn’t.”<br/>
Hopper grabbed Joyce’s phone, punching in the number he had already memorised. “Please, pick up.” He mumbled, turning his back to the living room audience who were slowly realising that something bad had happened.<br/></p><p><i>”Hello.”</i><br/>
“Evie, I am so sorry.” He leaned against the wall with one hand, holding the phone in the other. His heart was racing in his chest, his gut hollow and aching.<br/>
She let out a harsh laugh. <i> “Uh-huh, you’re sorry, are you? For what exactly? For standing me up? For not calling? For humiliating me in front of most of the town? What?”</i> Her voice was slurred slightly, words sliding into one another.<br/>
“Are you drunk?”<br/>
<i> “Well, I had to do something while I was sitting around a crowded restaurant waiting for you!”</i><br/>
“Evie, listen to me-“<br/>
<i> “No, you listen. I waited for two and a half hours. I waited <b>for you</b> for two and a half hours!” </i> Hopper rested his head against the wall, eyes closed as Evie carried on shouting at him. <i> “Do you have any idea how humiliating that was? Enzo’s emptied out around me while I waited for you, Jim Hopper.” </i><br/>
“I am so incredibly sorry. And you have every right to be mad at me, but something came up and-“<br/>
<i> “That woman – the one from the diner – she saw me. She told me that you were no good – she told me twice, actually, if you think about it. And I never believed her the first time because you had been so fucking good to me since I came back here.”</i> Her voice cracked, and Jim could hear the liquid sloshing in the bottle as she brought it to her lips. <i> “And then you made me into the town laughingstock, Hop.” </i> Her words felt like a stab in the chest, the blade twisting in deeper when he pictured her sitting alone in Enzo’s having people all around her staring and whispering. His reputation should not have damaged hers; <i>he</i> shouldn’t have damaged her.<br/>
“Let me make it up to you, please.” He was quiet, soft, ashamed that he had let the ghosts of his past ruin something so good from it. “How about tomorrow night? We could rent a movie, order in-“<br/>
<i> “I have plans tomorrow night.  I might have told you about them if you had shown up.”</i><br/>
“Then whenever you’re free.” He wanted this second chance. He needed it.<br/>
<i> “Being stood up once was quite enough. I’d say I never wanted to see you again, but Hawkins is too small for that. Good night, Hop.”</i> The line went dead and Hopper’s hand fell to his side, the dial tone stretching into the silence of the room.</p><p>
He couldn’t believe he had forgotten his date with Evie. It had been the one thing he was looking forward to most of all and he had ruined it. He had chased bad memories when he could have been making good ones with a woman he wanted to know better. He wouldn’t blame Evie if she never forgave him; he couldn’t forgive himself right now.
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So that's where Hopper was!<br/>Was it worth it?</p><p>&lt;3</p><p>#theangstisstrongwiththisone</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. A Woman Scorned</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The second Evelyn hung the phone up on Hopper she had burst into tears, sinking to the plush rug beneath her bare feet. She hadn’t even had a sip of whiskey after that, she simply held the bottle for a little longer until her head started to hurt, and sobriety began to ache throughout her body. She had gotten up from the floor, wincing when her back cracked, and made her way to the sink. She left the open bottle on the side and fumbled getting herself a glass of water, soaking her hands more as her vision wavered. Evelyn gulped down the ice-cold drink, hissing when the coldness stung her teeth. There was a noise outside, a squeal, and then the sound of branches being ripped down. It was coming from the surrounding woods, and she squinted into the dark, trying to see through the small kitchen window. She could just about make out a shadow of an animal. It was too big for a fox, though it looked lean enough, but then it reared up on its hind legs and she thought she saw something small hanging from where its mouth should be. Did they have bears in Indiana? It was about the right size for a cub, if the cub was underweight – which it very well might be if the winter had been spent without a mother. Wait. It was barely spring. Were cubs even around now? Or that size? Evelyn couldn’t remember; all her brain wanted to tell her right then was that she needed to rehydrate before she went to bed or else she’d have a bitch of a headache in the morning. Crying and drinking was not an advised combination for anyone.</p><p>The animal vanished into the thicket and Evelyn shook her head, finishing off her drink as she stumbled to her phone. She might have had Hopper’s number, but she wasn’t going to call him. No, he could get her message from the machine the next time he was at the station.<br/>
“Hey, it’s Evelyn Carter. I think I just saw a bear in the woods out by my cabin down on…well it’s just before Denfield. The Chief knows where I mean.” She was doing her best to keep her voice steady, to avoid slurring and to hide the nasally, croaky tone that had remained after her tears had all dried up. She didn’t want anyone to know Hopper had left her in such a state. “Can someone check it out? Thanks.” She hung up, her fingers leaving the glass on the side table next to her record player as she stumbled into her bedroom for a deep, dreamless sleep.</p><p> </p><p>Waking up on Saturday morning, she felt like such a fool. She had gotten all dressed up and had been left sitting alone at a table in one of the busiest spots for a Friday night. Waking up to the sun creeping through her window and the promise of a glorious spring day didn’t help shake the embarrassment she felt. She was still pissed at Hopper, but more than that, she was hurt. Hop had been so good to her, and for a second, she had thought of what could have been and it had left her feeling like such a fucking idiot. Her heart hadn’t ached like this in a good number of years, and at least then she had a past and an actual relationship to be upset about. She had nothing with Hopper besides a few cups of coffee and stories shared on chilly mornings. </p><p>There was no time to wallow in her own misery. She had plans for the day and while a large part of her never wanted to leave her secluded cabin again, a bigger part was just so damn angry. And when Evelyn Carter was angry she was oftentimes incredible. It was rare that she felt herself this riled up, so she wasn’t even aware of what she was usually capable of until long after the rage had passed. They say “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” and Evelyn had been reborn from hellfire that single Saturday in late March. </p><p> </p><p>She took a hot shower, desperate to wash away the burn of humiliation from the night before. Instead it manifested into anger. How <i>dare</i> Hopper treat her that way?! She wasn’t going to let him – or any man – treat her like she was inferior, like her feelings didn’t matter. She had made that mistake once and she had told herself then that she wouldn’t be made a fool of anymore. And then Jim fucking Hopper came along and humiliated her in the town she grew up in; the town where everyone knew her name, her family, her tragedy. By the time the water ran cold she was positively furious at herself and at Hopper. </p><p>Wrapped in a towel she cleaned up the mess from the night before. She put the bottle of whiskey back into the top cupboard, put the records she had played back into their sleeves, and opened a window to let out the stuffy, alcohol infused air. The dress from Friday was shoved unceremoniously into the back of her wardrobe with no thought given to the soft velvet. Evelyn just didn’t want to see it again. She plucked out a short denim skirt with a white and red striped off the shoulder shirt. She had an old leather jacket of Charlie’s from when he was a teenager that loosely fitted her now. The leather was jet black, creased and cracked in places but it matched the belt and knee-high slouch boots she paired it with. Drying her natural curls, she contemplated a headband or ribbon before simply leaving it with just a bit of hairspray for volume; why fix something that wasn’t broken? She put a Joan Jett album on as she grabbed her cosmetics bag from the shelf and tipped the brushes, powders and pots out onto her bed. </p><p>Evelyn typically kept her day to day make up light. She dusted a bit of brown shadow over her lids, a nude lipstick, and kept her blush to a minimum. She was a teacher after all, and as much as she enjoyed fashion and make-up, she had to look professional and the neon colours of this decade were a little harder to make look smart in the classroom. Plus, she was still hung up on the style she had settled into during the seventies, browns and creams, suede and platforms.<br/>
Today was different.<br/>
She swept her lids in a deep violet, using a black eyeliner to line her eyes before she thickened her lashes with mascara, careful to avoid any clumps. The purple made her green eyes pop, and once her cheeks were blushed, she coated her lips in a dark plum; a colour she saved only for parties and special occasions. </p><p>But this was a special occasion; in more ways than one. She was going out tonight with old friends, having a drink at the bar and hopefully drinking away any last feelings she had for one Jim Hopper. Before that though she had the chance to see him, to show him exactly what he had abandoned in Enzo’s the night before.<br/>
Evelyn was meeting Phil Callahan at the station before they headed out – his idea since it meant he would be able to leave on time and not get held back to finish any paperwork. Phil had had the decency to call her to say that he had to work in the day because of an incident on Friday. Phones were such a wonderful thing that allowed people to communicate on a simple whim. Maybe someone in town ought to introduce their Police Chief to them.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn was ready earlier than she needed to be, but that turned out to be a good thing. She was painting her nails, distracting herself from all thoughts of Jim Hopper when a knock came at the door. Carefully, she opened it, blinking up at the state trooper standing on her porch.<br/>
“Evelyn Carter?”<br/>
“Yes. Can I help you?” She shielded her eyes from the unforgiving sun, still careful not to smudge her drying nails.<br/>
“You made a call about a suspected bear in the area?” It took her a moment to remember the night before. She had completely forgotten about the noise in the woods.<br/>
“They sent the state troopers for that? Isn’t that a little extreme?”<br/>
“Well, your local police department is a little busy right now.” He hooked his thumbs through his belt loops, looking down at Evelyn over his sunglasses. “You do know black bear sightings haven’t been documented since 1871?” His tone was condescending, like he was speaking to a little kid who had called in a bad dream.<br/>
Evelyn sighed, her face burning as her humiliation slapped her again. “Look, I drank a little too much last night, I was tired, and I saw something in the woods that I could only assume was a bear cub.”<br/>
“And why’s that?”<br/>
“Because it was bigger than anything I would expect to see here, and it stood up on its hind legs. I don’t think the local deer do that.” She couldn’t believe she was explaining herself to a state trooper. Worse, she couldn’t believe Hopper would send them to do his dirty work after she had been stood up by him. Now, she wasn’t just a fool in Hawkins, but to those outside of it, too. She could practically feel this trooper’s need to laugh radiating off of him. He probably thought she was a crazy drunk living in the woods, hallucinating after one drink too many. And he probably thought that because Hopper was too much of an asshole to face her after what he had done.<br/>
“We’ll take a quick look around, see if there is anything that might put your mind at ease.” Great. He was humouring her now, checking under the bed for monsters. “I’m sure it’s nothing and I suggest maybe skipping the night cap in the future, Miss Carter.”</p><p>Evelyn gave him a tight-lipped smile and closed the door as he walked away. She leaned against the heavy wood, eyes closed, counting backwards from ten to calm herself down before she lost control and launched something across the small living space. When she opened her eyes, she could hear the troopers outside moving around, twigs snapping under their feet. She could feel her hands shaking, emotions still running high as she stepped into the kitchen and retrieved the bottle she had put away not too long ago. She poured a small amount into a glass, savouring it on her tongue, feeling the burn in the back of her throat as she swallowed. It was almost time for her to leave, and she still had two nails left to paint. Steadying her hand, she sat back down and took a deep breath, picking the brush up again and focusing only on drawing the boysenberry shade across her nails. Slowly, her breathing calmed, and her face cooled. Was she feeling better? No. She was still furious as hell, but that only drove her more now.<br/>
There was still a part of her beneath that simmering anger that wanted to go to bed, to curl up and hide and hope it was all some awful dream. She wouldn’t give into it though. No, Evelyn Carter was going to show Jim Hopper just what he had missed out on, and then she was going to go and enjoy the night with her school friends and prove to Hawkins that Hopper hadn’t burrowed his way under her pale skin.<br/>
If she did that, maybe she could convince herself of it, too.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>Hopper hadn’t been able to focus all day. It was rare he came in on a Saturday, at least for the entire day. After what had happened to Marty though there was paperwork to be done and forms to fill out – and he wanted it done quickly to put this all behind him. He needed to finish up the report he hadn’t even started yet. He had hoped it would be a distraction from Evelyn and the sleepless night he had ended up having. He had tossed and turned, wanting to go to her cabin at three in the morning to apologise again, to explain that he was an idiot, a man who jumped at shadows and who didn’t deserve a second chance but who would really, <i>really</i> like one.</p><p>Joyce had told him not to though. Before he had left her place, she had told him that he needed to give Evie time to cool off – and that rushing to her would only make matters worse. Unfortunately, waiting for something that may never come left Hopper feeling worse. He was exhausted, annoyed, and hated himself more than he had done in a long time.</p><p> </p><p>Sitting at his desk, the door was still cracked open after Callahan forgot to close it properly. That meant Hopper heard the whistles and claps when they filled the station. He lifted his head from his hand, the report instantly forgotten as his curiosity got the better of him. He tapped the ash from his cigarette into the glass dish and moved to the door, nudging it open wider and stepping out. He expected to see Powell, who was grinning at his desk having just caught a paper bag tossed his way. The back of Callahan slipped through the bathroom door, his laughter trailing behind him. What he didn’t expect to see was Evie leaning against an empty desk, smiling at whatever joke he had missed.</p><p>And Evie…looked incredible.</p><p>Her tight skirt showed off her legs, cutting off just above her knee, but still showing enough skin to tease what was underneath. The pale denim hugged her hips nicely and if she had bent over the desk instead of leaning against it, Hopper didn’t think he’d be standing. He could already see the curve of her ass from the side, his fingers itching to feel if it was as round and firm as it looked – as he had dreamed.<br/>
And those boots…Hop had wicked thoughts of what he’d like to be doing if those boots were over his shoulders.<br/>
Her make-up was different – the good kind of different – and it sent Hopper reeling back to that dream he had tried hard to forget. Evie looked downright sinful, a tempting, siren-call version of the woman Hopper had seen with cobwebs in her hair and dirt on her jeans.</p><p> </p><p>He wet his lips, slowly making his way towards her. This was his chance to apologise and he needed to get rid of the devilish thoughts crossing through his mind when Evie hopped up onto the desk, her thighs pressing against the varnished wood.<br/>
“Evie – you look incredible.” He breathed, taking her in again as he came to stand beside her.<br/>
“You should have seen how I looked last night.” She countered, her smile gone in a flash, her eyes cold.<br/>
“I’m sorry. I really am.” Hopper whispered, aware of Powell sitting close by and most likely listening in as best as he could.<br/>
“You said. But an apology isn’t a magic word.” For a second, hurt sparked in her vivid eyes, and the asymmetrical smile that flashed across her face held no glimpse of happiness. “It doesn’t undo what you did.”<br/>
Hopper nodded, casting his eyes to the floor. There had to be something he could do. There needed to be a way that he could fix this. </p><p>“I’ll be five minutes, Evelyn.” Callahan’s voice attracted Hop’s attention and he looked up, his head following the younger man as he grabbed something from his desk drawer and slipped through to the back room.<br/>
“No problem, Phil.” Evelyn hid her pain the instant Callahan had spoken, a mask of a smile on her face.<br/>
“Phil?” Hopper questioned, his eyebrows raised towards his hairline.<br/>
“It is his name.”<br/>
“Your plans – the ones you mentioned last night – are with Callahan?” He couldn’t believe it. If he had lost his chance with Evelyn then so be it, but if he had lost his chance only for Callahan – or Phil, as it seemed – to swoop in and snatch it away, then he didn’t know how to feel. He was numb. Turned on and numb at the same time, which ought to have been an impossibility.<br/>
Evelyn slid off the desk, facing Hopper fully, her arms folded across her chest which – he didn’t think she realised – only helped to show off what was pushed up under the loose shirt. “Yeah. They’re with <i>Phil.</i> We’re old friends so why not?”<br/>
She wanted him to say it. As pissed off and as hurt as she was, she wanted Hopper to say that he was jealous, that she ought to be with him instead and just…<i>do something</i> to make up for last night.<br/>
He stayed silent, eyes flickering from her to the floor, his jaw twitching as he searched for words. His silence only worked to infuriate Evelyn, who decided to push him more. She hoped it would hurt him as much as he had hurt her. “He asked me if I wanted to go out and it’s nice to make plans with someone who calls if those plans should change.” It wasn’t the same, she knew it wasn’t the same, but it didn’t matter. She wanted Hopper to feel her humiliation. She wanted him to know that he had upset her and to feel that upset, too.<br/>
“How was I supposed to call? You weren’t even at home.” He spoke through his teeth, voice a little gruffer that Evelyn had heard it before.<br/>
“Last time I checked both Hawkins High and Enzo’s have phones.”<br/>
Hopper’s eyes met hers, both of them alight with anger and something else, something desperate and true. Something there probably isn’t a word in any spoken language for. It was a longing, and a desire, but a fear at the same time. It was so uniquely human and yet neither of them wanted to recognise it reflected back at them.</p><p>“Ready when you are.” Callahan had changed out of his uniform and appeared oblivious to the tension before him. He had switched into jeans and a white t-shirt under an olive-green button up that was a similar shade to Evelyn’s eyes. His uniform was bundled under his arm and he jingled his keys as he moved to the door, his focus on Evelyn the whole time. “I just need to throw this in my car and then I promise there will be no more delays.”<br/>
“Sounds great.” That smile was back; the one that didn’t reach her eyes and that didn’t suit her face. It was too big, too fake. It almost looked like there were too many teeth in an already full mouth. Only Hopper thought that though, wishing instead that she would smile properly again.<br/>
He watched her walk over to Callahan, hips swaying with each step, slipping by him as he opened the door for her. Callahan grinned, turning back to Powell.<br/>
“Wish me luck.”<br/>
“You’ll need more than luck.” Powell scoffed, shaking his head as he pushed up from his desk. “Coffee, Chief?”<br/>
Hopper watched the station door swing shut, feeling like a part of him had left, too.<br/>
“No. I need something stronger.”</p><p> </p><p>Hopper had intended to finish the report and the forms before he went home, but back in his office all he did was smoke and pace for three hours, not even noticing when Powell left. He wanted to punch something. He wanted to put his fist through the wall. No. He wanted to put his first through Callahan’s stupid grinning face.<br/>
He groaned. Callahan wasn’t to blame for liking Evie. Hell, Hopper hadn’t realised he liked her quite so much himself until she was out of his reach, turning away from him for someone else. He should have known better. He was old, he was miserable and that was how he was destined to stay.<br/>
“Just a black fucking hole.” He mumbled, grabbing his coat to leave for the day. </p><p> </p><p>Hopper didn’t go home. He didn’t go by Joyce’s to pick up El either. He found himself heading towards the Hideaway. Inside, he made a beeline for the bar, perching on a stool and ordering a double whiskey. It had been a while since he had needed one of them. He didn’t care that he was technically still in his uniform, only the thick black coat hiding that from the eagle-eyed townsfolk. The bartender handed him the drink and his change, moving along to serve someone else almost immediately. There was a lull in the music as the song changed, and in that brief moment of quiet he heard an all too familiar laugh.</p><p>Looking across the bar he saw Evie. And she was dancing with Callahan. He spun her out and back in again, his hand pressing on her lower back as hers found his shoulder. She laughed, tossing her head back before he twirled her around again. Her smile wasn’t plastic this time. It was genuine; the kind Hopper was used to seeing from her. His chest tightened, watching as she moved to the music, Callahan surprisingly keeping up with her considering Hopper knew him as a bumbling idiot most of the time. As the chorus hit, Hopper watched Evie jump around, hips swaying to the music as her curls bounced and she sang along to The Outfield. When it looked like she was losing her balance, Callahan wrapped his arms around her waist, steadying her again as she laughed into his chest. Hopper’s grip tightened around his glass, his jaw clenched tight as a sickly heat washed over him. Callahan, smiling, leaned in to whisper something in Evie’s ear, something that made her cackle wildly as he spun her around again.</p><p> </p><p>Hopper had seen enough. He didn’t want to watch anymore, and he knew he couldn’t be in the Hideaway if the soundtrack to his miserable evening was going to be Evie’s laughter as some other man made her happier than Hopper ever could. He knocked back the drink, downing it in one and left the bar before anyone else even knew he was there. Leaving right then meant he didn’t see Callahan guiding Evie back to the corner table where four other people were sitting. Or the way she wobbled with each step. Or the drink she knocked back. He wasn’t the only person in Hawkins that night who wanted to drown his sorrows.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A longer chapter to get this weekend going! I never promised it would be a happier one though &lt;3</p><p>Has Jim missed his chance? Can Callahan really dance? Will Evelyn find love in another man's arms?<br/>Tune in next time for more mistakes made by fools too stupid to talk about their feelings!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. The Sober Light of Sunday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her mouth felt like it was filled with cotton balls. Evelyn blinked, bleary eyed as she lifted her face from her pillow. The white cotton was dappled with bruises from her make-up. She groaned, burying her face back into the beaten pillow as the headache pounded under her skull. It had been a very long time since she had been hungover, and even longer since she had drunk tequila. And yet, the first memory of last night that came back to her was her encouraging her old friends into doing tequila shots at the bar. She had drunk more than just tequila though, and that was where things got fuzzy, the night turning into a blur of warm lights and laughter. She thought she had a good time, but in the harsh morning light she knew it had been a desperate attempt to hide her humiliation and had probably only made it worse. </p><p> </p><p>There was a glass of water on her bedside table, though she didn’t remember getting it last night. It wasn’t surprising really since she couldn’t remember getting home either. She was still wearing the clothes she had gone out in, minus the boots and jacket which were on the floor beside the bed. Forcing herself onto her back, Evelyn groaned again, hand coming to cover her eyes. She felt awful. Her stomach was empty yet full at the same time, her head throbbed to the steady pounding of her heart, her mouth was sticky and dry, and her eyes felt like she had buried her face in a sandcastle. She wanted to stay in her bed, pull the sheets over her head and not move until Monday morning. That wouldn’t make her feel any better though. Plus, the stench of stale alcohol permeated the room and Evelyn was nauseated by the smell. She forced herself to sit up, swinging her bare legs over the side of the bed. Her body lolled forward, elbows resting atop her knees as she tried to hold herself upright. Her wrist shook as she reached for the glass, fingers sliding over it as she brought it unsteadily to her dry lips. Plum lipstick clots fell into the water and clung to the side of the glass, but Evelyn didn’t care. She sipped at the water for a minute, taking tiny mouthfuls and testing the strength of her unpredictable stomach. This would either make her feel a little more alive or would send her racing to the toilet. When there were no signs of a revolt from her digestive tract, Evelyn downed the rest of the water in four big gulps. Her moth no longer felt like it was glued shut, and slowly, very slowly, Evelyn moved to the bathroom where she brushed her teeth, gargled mouth wash until her teeth stung, and then stepped into the shower. </p><p> </p><p>The hot water felt amazing, tiny acupuncture like pinpricks of relief on her skin. She sank to the floor, curling up under the spray. Memories of last night were like a bad TV - staticky - only giving her glimpses of what had happened. She recalled dancing, a lot, and that was mostly because the balls of her feet still ached when she padded across her bedroom. She remembered the drink and the people she was with. They talked about school, about breaking the rules, and then…nothing. Evelyn couldn’t remember anything else. The one thing that she couldn’t forget, that hadn’t gone away despite the amount of alcohol she had consumed, was the pain in her chest from Friday night. It still hurt, and that made her angry – or it would have done if she had the energy to be angry.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn didn’t know how long she spent sitting under the water, slowly bringing herself to grab the bar of honeysuckle soap and wash away the make-up, smoke and booze from her skin, and then her hair. When she came back to her bedroom, she felt a little better. The sun didn’t hurt her eyes, and her skin seemed to be rejoicing in the fact that it could breathe again, now free of any and all make up. She changed into purple leggings and a baggy grey sweatshirt, shoving her bare feet into fuzzy slippers as she grabbed the empty glass and moved through to her kitchen. She sipped at another glass of water as she fried some bacon and an egg, tossing them onto near black toast. </p><p>She was about to sit down when a note caught her eye.<br/>
<i> Hope you’re okay. Call me when you wake up. Phil </i><br/>
She smiled softly, a fuzzy memory returning of him holding her steady as they left the Hideaway last night. She decided to call him after she had eaten, not wishing to ignore the loud, rumbling cries of her stomach for any longer.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, on the other side of small lake, Hopper was nursing his own sore head. He had picked El up from Joyce’s after he left the bar, and after the silent ride home, El was curled in front of the TV. She had watched him get the six pack from the fridge and studied him as he fell into his chair. He hadn’t said anything more than a mumbled greeting when she had first climbed into the Blazer.<br/>
“You’re mad.” She stated, brown eyes staring at him as he pulled the ring on the first can, gulping down half its contents before looking at El.<br/>
“Bad day.”<br/>
“Because of the mistake?” He hated that the kids had been in the room when he had called Evie the other night. He knew Mike would have fed El some story about what had happened, giving her glimpses into a life he knew nothing of.<br/>
“Something like that.”<br/>
“Girls like presents.” It was El’s voice, but not her words. He questioned just how long Friday night had been talked about between those kids. It seemed like they had all had an opinion on the matter and they were just clueless fourteen-year olds. Hopper’s temper simmered beneath the surface, close the boil.<br/>
He stayed silent, drinking his beer. All he could see was Evie laughing as Callahan held her close. And all he could wonder was if that could have been him instead of the wiry deputy.<br/>
“They like jewellery.”<br/>
He would have to go to work Monday and pretend like everything was fine. He would have to resist punching Callahan the second he said whatever ridiculous thing he thought up before ten o’clock.<br/>
“And flowers.”<br/>
“Give it a rest, kid.” Hopper sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and screwing his eyes shut. “Sorry. Sorry, it’s just – I’m not in the mood tonight.”<br/>
El had stayed silent after that, slipping quietly into her room when he had opened the third beer.</p><p> </p><p>She was still in there, and Hopper had started breakfast. He called for her, wincing when it felt like a nail was being driven through his temple. After the six pack he had reached for the bottle of scotch Evie had given him a few weeks ago. A third of it was gone by the time he fell into bed and now he was paying the price for it. And he was still thinking about the girl in the denim skirt, wondering if she had pressed herself up against Callahan, wondering if he had tasted her blueberry kisses, too. He was wondering about so much that he burnt the damn pancakes.<br/>
He was scraping them into the bin when El came out of her room, peering curiously around him to see what had happened and why the air smelt like fire.<br/>
“Eggos?” She asked, eyebrows raising as she looked up.<br/>
“Sure. Why not.” Hopper tossed the spatula and the pan into the empty sink, wincing when they clattered around the basin.<br/>
Fuck, this was the worst he’d felt in a while. Years, in fact.</p><p> </p><p>Neither knew of the other one suffering. Neither knew that they had both drank their Saturday night away thinking of the other. Neither could envision a moment when the ache would go away.</p><p>They were both feeling like shit. They were both wishing that the weekend had gone differently. They were both so incredibly irritated at themselves, wondering just when they had become this stupid.</p><p> </p><p>And they were both too hungover to hear the noises in the woods between them, as something was brutally ripped in two.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If you don't sit under your shower are you even doing heartbreak and hangovers right?<br/>&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Blood in the Water</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Monday rolled around again, Evelyn had to force her head up as she walked into Hawkins High. Silently, she was reminding herself that the teenagers of Hawkins were probably not the least bit interested in her life. They probably didn’t even know what had happened. Between the parking lot and her classroom, she convinced herself that something much more exciting and dramatic had happened over the weekend to capture their attention. <br/>Her demeanour in her classes changed though. Normally she checked on her students, greeted them and made a little comment here and there if they were tired, or distracted. There was none of that now. As soon as her class were settled in their seats she went straight into the lesson. Every word out of her mouth was scientific, her instructions to the point, and she wasted no time in pushing through her lesson plan to get where she wanted to go. She asked questions, demanding answers, and gave no room to whispers or comments that were not directly related to the lesson at hand. Most of the time she didn’t mind a diversion so long as it was still educational, and somewhat science based. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears, the steady thump, thump, keeping her grounded and keeping her fears tucked away behind this clinical demeanour.</p><p> </p><p>Everything about her was defensive today. She left no opening, no teensy tiny crack in her polished appearance. She had come to school looking just as she usually did, but without the welcoming smile and open-door attitude. She didn’t leave a gap for anyone to slide in and ask her how her weekend was, or how her day was going. She was here to teach science and that was all she did. Miss Click had almost broken through at lunch time, forcing her way beside her in the cafeteria and patting her arm like a mother might a child after they’d grazed a knee.<br/>“Not to worry; you’re young still.” Evelyn felt her jaw twitch. She bit her tongue to stop the explosion building in her throat. <br/>She wasn’t mad at Miss Click. Miss Click had done nothing wrong, nothing at all. She was trying to be nice, to be a friendly co-worker. And most importantly; Miss Click didn’t know who she was supposed to have been meeting on Friday night. In the short time that had passed since Evelyn had been humiliated in front of a good portion of Hawkins, she had never stopped to think that no one knew who the mystery man was who had stood her up. It could have been her father – although she was a little over dressed for a dad-daughter dinner. Only Marissa had guessed correctly, and Evelyn assured herself that she had only known because she had seen them at the diner. </p><p>Was Marissa a gossip? She wondered, forcing a smile at the kind history teacher before walking away with her apple and water. <br/>She didn’t seem shy about her own past encounter with Hopper. It made Evelyn wonder if he made a habit out of it. Did he get a kick out of humiliating the women in town? Was he the same with all of them, lulling them in with stories and the promise of dinner only to leave them hanging, waiting and hoping for his appearance? Evelyn was pissed at Hopper, but she couldn’t bring herself to believe that was true. He had hurt her, yes, and it was clear that she wasn’t the only person he had hurt, but a part of her heart that wasn’t aching kept saying he was a good guy. That part of her heart had been wrong before, once when it was much bigger than the sliver of a hopeful fragment that remained. </p><p> </p><p>Her last class of the day went by smoothly until the bell rang. Usually the classroom emptied out fast, but today Evelyn looked up from her desk to see Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers lingering. Nancy was tugging at his sleeve, shaking her head and whispering too quickly for Evelyn to even attempt to lip read. <br/>“Is everything okay?” She eventually asked, wanting them out of her classroom so she could tidy up and go home herself.<br/>Like a deer in the headlights, they froze. Nancy managed a quick smile after a second, stepping around Jonathan to answer.<br/>“Yes, everything’s great! We were just-“<br/>“He really was sorry…y’know.” Jonathan blurted, stepping in front of Nancy and tugging at his bag strap awkwardly.<br/>Evelyn sucked on her tongue, looking down at the cheap, scuffed desk she had come to call her own. After a long, silent moment, she stood up, moving to collect the slides and put them away.<br/>“That’s none of your business, Jonathan.”<br/>“We’re sorry. He didn’t mean-“<br/>“He called from our house.” Jonathan interrupted his girlfriend again, moving closer to the science teacher. “He was pretty pissed off.”<br/>He had some cheek to be pissed off when it had been Evelyn who was left looking like a fool.<br/>“At himself.” Nancy added, obviously sensing the anger building within Evelyn.<br/>“Yeah. That’s what I meant.” Jonathan agreed, sliding closer again.<br/>“That’s enough.” Evelyn’s voice was stoic but laced with frustration all the same. “I don’t want to hear another word out of either of you unless it’s related to the differences between Ionic and Covalent bonding and how we determine one from the other.” <br/>Nancy nodded, lowering her head to hide her face. Jonathan paused a little longer, and Evelyn stared him down, practically daring him to speak again. <br/>He didn’t. Instead he nodded like his girlfriend and quickly left the room with Nancy following him hissing at him; “I told you to stay out of it.”<br/>Evelyn was alone and she slumped against the desk at the front of the lab. So much for no one in her classes knowing the truth. And if Jonathan and Nancy knew, she bet the kids Scott had told her about knew, too. After all, one of them was Jonathan’s brother and it was apparent to her now that there had been an audience to Hopper’s piss poor excuse of an apology phone call. For a hint of a moment, Evelyn regretted coming home at all.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Hopper had spent most of the day out of the station. He was convinced Flo had almost called for a doctor when he radioed in that morning and asked if any calls had come in that warranted his attention. It was Monday, it was before 9am, and Jim Hopper wasn’t dragging his ass through Hawkins, grumbling for coffee while lighting up smoke after smoke. If he hadn’t been in such a foul mood he might even have been entertained at the thought of Flo thinking hell had frozen over.</p><p>He did the menial tasks he usually palmed off on Callahan or Powell. He dropped off papers at the mayor’s office, checked in on the calls that had been made over the weekend, but weren’t urgent. He even listened to old Mr White prattle on about how he had drawn up the boundary lines for this town back in the forties and how he’d be damned if anyone with two dogs and three kids was going to tell him that his fence was overstepping their patio plans. Eventually though, Hopper ran out of things to do. It wasn’t late enough to go home, and he probably had to show his face just so Flo didn’t think he was losing his mind entirely.</p><p> </p><p>It was close to four o’clock when he walked in the station, his arrival immediately silencing the pop culture argument Powell and Callahan were engaged in.<br/>“Hey, Chief, thought we weren’t gonna see you today.” Powell commented, quickly realising that Hopper was not in a good mood.<br/>“I was busy.” Hopper made his way straight to his office, bypassing the doughnut sitting in the box just for him.<br/>“Oh, Chief.” Callahan’s voice flipped a switch inside him. His blood began to boil and he acknowledged the lanky bastard with a sound that fell somewhere between a growl and a grunt. When he turned around Callahan was stood in front of him, a weird sort of confused smile on his face. “Evelyn asked me to pass on a message; she said thanks a lot for sending the troopers out for the bear.”<br/>Hopper paused, the line in his brow deepening. “What troopers? What bear?”<br/>Callahan shrugged. “I dunno. Just what she said.” He scratched his head, looking off to the side. “Although she was pretty wasted when she said it.”<br/>“So it was nonsense. Thanks.”<br/>“No, I don’t think so.” Callahan stepped into the doorway before Hopper could close the door. “She was drunk when I brought her home, but she had a whole story about it. She called the station because there was something in the woods, left a message because it was late, but then some state troopers showed up – then she started slurring too much for me to make out anything but a handful of ‘fucks’ and ‘idiot’.”<br/>“Please tell me you put her to bed.” Powell said, shaking his head.<br/>“I tucked her in good and tight.” Callahan commented, glancing over his shoulder. “Left her with a glass of water and everything.”<br/>Hopper’s head was hurting, but he wasn’t sure if it was anger at the idiot in front of him, or confusion at his story.<br/>“Let me get this straight. Evie called here-“<br/>“Evelyn called, yeah.”<br/>“She called here to report a bear in the woods, when we don’t even have bears in the woods?”<br/>“I guess so.”<br/>“Flo?”<br/>“I never got any message about a bear, Hop.” Flo didn’t even look up from her book, and Hop knew that she didn’t miss anything. That alone was enough to make his heart beat faster.<br/>“And I never sent any state troopers.” He confirmed, looking back at Callahan.<br/>“Well she seemed pretty insistent that you had sent them.”<br/>“When was this?”<br/>“When she saw the bear or the troopers?”<br/>“Callahan-“<br/>“Saturday, I think.”<br/>Hopper pushed Callahan out of the way and raced towards the main door. “You get her on the phone and tell her I’m coming out to her – Now.”</p><p>All Hopper could think about was that the last time state troopers had been in Hawkins, a body that was not a body had shown up in a quarry. </p><p> </p><p>Evelyn was in her cabin, gathering the dirty dishes she had ignored over the weekend she’d rather forget. Her phone started to ring just as she slipped them into the hot, soapy water. Drying her hands on her leggings, Evelyn winched the phone in the crook of her neck, the cord long enough that she could return to the menial task before the water had the chance to cool.<br/>“Hello?” She cracked the window over the sink open, wanting the smell of leftovers to vacant the cabin as quickly as possible.<br/><i> “Hey, Evelyn, it’s Phil.” </i><br/>“If you’re calling to tell me more embarrassing stories from the weekend, I want to hear them less than yesterday.” She grabbed the dish cloth and started wiping away the greasy residue on a plate.<br/>There was a laugh on the other end, and Evelyn could hear him kicking his feet up on the desk. <br/><i> “Nah, I’m calling because the Chief asked me to. Said to tell you he was on his way.” </i><br/>She dropped the plate back into the sink, the ceramic cracking and splitting as it bounced off the edge of the sink. <br/>“Fuck.”<br/><i> “You okay?” </i><br/>“I broke a plate.” Evelyn grumbled, fishing the pieces out of the water. “Why is Hop – ow! Fuck! Shit!” A sharp pain seared through her hand and a ruby red tendril twisted through the water.<br/><i> “Hey, what’s going on?” </i><br/>“I cut myself. Look, I need to go.” She hung up before he could say anything and wrapped her bleeding hand in a dish towel. <br/>It was made of thin cotton and the deep crimson blood quickly soaked through it. She dared a glance at her palm, grimacing when she saw the long diagonal slice through the middle. It wasn’t too deep, but it was bloody. </p><p>There was a noise outside, a feral growl that made her turn back towards the sink just in time to see the faceless creature smash through her window. Glass flew in every direction and before Evelyn could scream or even think of running, the creature had bitten into her arm, giving her a glimpse at the dozens of tiny, razor sharp teeth embedded into the terrifying peeled back petals that made up its mouth.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Enjoy the cliffhanger! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. The Party Gathers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hopper tore through the streets of Hawkins, swerving around a car pushing the speed limit, almost crashing into another car at the barely needed stop sign. Almost losing control as he took a corner, Hopper slammed on the brakes and spun the steering wheel just enough before he needed to turn up the dirt road to Evelyn’s cabin. He took the turn so sharply that the tyres clipped rocks and sent the truck bouncing up the muddy path. As her cabin came into sight, he heard the smashing of glass. He left the door open when he jumped out, his stomach curdling when he heard the shrill scream pierce the silent air, followed by that all too familiar growl he hoped never to hear again outside of his nightmares.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn screamed, trying to tug her arm free, kicking at the creature as it pinned her to the floor with spiny appendages that were more humanlike that she cared to consider in the moment. Blood spurted from its mouth, spraying across her bright blue sweater. Hot pain seared through Evelyn’s arm; she could feel the teeth tearing through her tender flesh as she reached out with her other hand to grip the wooden post where her phone was mounted. If she could pull herself out of its mouth, if she could get up, if she could just-</p><p>There was a smash somewhere behind her, the splintering of wood as it broke from its hinges and crashed to the floor.<br/>“Evie!”<br/>The popping sounds of gunfire made Evelyn think of popcorn, extremely loud popcorn – like if she was stuck in the Jiffy-Pop bag with the popcorn.<br/> If she was to die right now, mauled or eaten by whatever the fuck was on top of her, her last thought would be of popcorn. And as she realised that, she kicked harder, fighting to make sure her last final moments were not those ones. She let out a roar that crossed determination with agony and pulled herself with her fingers across the blood soaked and glass strewn kitchen floor. The beast didn’t let up, its teeth sinking in deeper, carving through her muscle as its talons clawed at her hips, trying to get a grip but she was moving too quickly, wriggling and flailing too much. Her leggings were shredded, and thin, shallow scratches appeared through the tears where the monster kept trying to hold her still, to feast upon her flesh. It would have succeeded had it not been for the bullets. Although they did little to slow the creature down, or stop him from mutilating her arm, they did enough to make it flinch, and every time it did it let go of her bottom half, allowing Evelyn to scramble and inch further across the floor while kicking out at the beast.</p><p>Evelyn didn’t know it was Hop who had broken her door down, not even when he had called her by a name only he used. She only recognised him when he loomed over her, axe bearing down on her. She shrieked again, shielding her face with her only free arm, curling what she could of her body into itself. The blow never came – at least not the one she was expecting. Instead there was a dull thud as something cool and slippery fell on her, the pressure on her arm suddenly gone, leaving it hot and throbbing. Opening her eyes, she saw the creature motionless atop her, the axe lodged in its back and she screamed again, staring at the face that wasn’t a face as she tried to kick the lifeless lump away.</p><p>Hopper’s hands were under her arms, tugging her out from under the repugnant creature and turning her into his chest. She shrieked once more, her shrill cry giving way to heavy, body wracking sobs as she clung to him, dragging both of them to the floor as her legs gave way beneath her.<br/>“I’ve got you. You’re okay. You’re okay.” Hopper whispered breathlessly, his large hand lodged in her curls, pressing her head to him.<br/>“What the hell was that?” Evelyn sobbed, her whole body like jelly, good hand scratching at his chest as her body worked through the rest of her fight or flight instinct.<br/>“Something that should never have been here.” He looked down, noticing the sticky limp arm in his lap. “Shit. You’re losing a lot of blood.” He twisted her around, lifting her hand over her chest. “Where does it hurt most?” He was already tearing his coat off, pressing the soft inside fleece against her shredded arm. There was too much blood to see the actual injury, and he couldn’t tell which part was the most severe.<br/>“I can’t feel anything.” Her breathing was ragged, faster than her racing heart. “What was that?!” She was hyper alert, but her brain couldn’t focus on any one thing. It was her arm, the creature, Hopper, her anger at Hopper, the creature, her arm, the broken window, was that blood hers or the things? Hopper, her arm - <br/>“Okay, okay. C’mon, I need you to take a deep breath.”<br/>“Don’t tell me to take a deep breath! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!” She screamed, flailing until he had to grab her free hand and pin it against her beaten wrist.<br/>“Stop. Keep the pressure on that.” He instructed, breathing between every word. “I will tell you everything, but first I need to make sure you’re not going to die on me.”<br/>“I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction.” Evelyn yelped at Hopper who suddenly picked her up, carrying her out of the cabin and to the Blazer. “What are you doing?!”<br/>“It’s not safe here.” He bundled her into the front seat, squeezing his hand around hers, pushing his coat more firmly against the wound. “Keep the pressure on.”<br/>“Where are we going?” Hopper only had to climb in the driver’s side and close his door. The engine had been left running, and he quickly reversed off Evelyn’s property and back out onto the long stretch of road.<br/>“Where are we going?” Evelyn repeated, closing her eyes as the world starting to rock in and out of focus.<br/>“Joyce’s. But first I need to get El.” She listened, barely understanding as Hopper picked up the radio and called El on it. His voice was background noise, muffled like cotton wool had been shoved into her ears. <br/>“Hey, stay with me.” Hop’s hand closed around her bicep and she flinched, groaning as her stomach lurched. “I need you to stay awake.”<br/>“Everything is spinning.” She whimpered, her head falling against the cool window to her right. <br/>“Just stay awake, Evie.”<br/>“M’trying.” She felt like talking was only going to provide her stomach with an opportunity to vomit. <br/>Hopper turned up the road to his cabin, hoping El was already waiting there. He didn’t want her on her own for any longer, and he didn’t want to spend any more time in these godforsaken woods.<br/>He pulled on the brake and even the gently stop was too much for Evelyn. She tugged on the door handle, almost falling out of the car as she vomited into the dirt. The only thing that stopped her toppling from the seat was Hopper’s hand suddenly gripping the back of her sweater. She felt the soft wool stretched taut across her neck before she rocked backwards, falling across the seat until the top of her head hit Hop’s thigh.</p><p>She vaguely heard the backdoor of the truck open and the sound of someone climbing in.<br/>“Bad?”<br/>“Very bad.” <br/>Hopper wasted no time in pulling back onto Denfield, following the roads through town to the Byers’ residence. He was driving faster than he ought to, but not as fast as before, his hand on Evelyn’s shoulder to keep her on the seat. She looked bad; her skin was paler than usual, and a thin, cold sheen coated her forehead. <br/>“Stay with me, Evie.” He whispered, glancing down at her every so often to make sure she was still awake and breathing. She let out quiet groans frequently, which reassured him, but also didn’t make him feel much better. </p><p> </p><p>By the time he had pulled up outside Joyce’s she was shivering, the hand holding his coat now too weak and shaky to apply pressure. El ran ahead to bang on the door, and Hop pulled Evelyn’s limp body from the truck, his hand slipping over her arm as his coat slid away from it. Even in the dark he could see that her injury was grave. Deep, round gouges penetrated her skin, with long, ragged lines torn away where she had fought back against the creature. The worst of the wounds were still oozing thick crimson blood that stained Hopper’s uniform as he cradled her against him.<br/>“Oh my god, what happened?” Joyce hurried down her porch, gasping when she saw the weakened state of Evelyn cradled in Hopper’s arms.<br/>“It’s back.” Hopper’s voice was heavy, dark, and he nudged his way inside the home where an audience was already gathering.</p><p>El was with Mike across the room, her fingers twisted with his. Will peered over the back of the couch, eyes wide and filled with terror. Jonathan and Nancy had come from his room, Nancy still holding the pencil she had been studying with. Lucas and Dustin were at the dinner table, looking like they had been setting up for dinner; the pizza was still hot in the box, the cans of soda cold and unopened. </p><p> </p><p>Hopper smoked in the narrow hallway that led to the bedrooms. Joyce had taken Evie to the bathroom, and the rest of the house had fallen into a near silence. Jonathan had locked the doors and the windows, and the kids were sitting at the table, whispering between themselves over untouched pizza. Hopper couldn’t make out what they were saying, but he wished they would stop. He wished all of this would stop. It was supposed to be over – done – and now he was facing the harsh reality that Hawkins was under attack again, by something only his daughter was able to stop. The thought of El risking her life again pissed him off. This ought to have been over. El ought to have been safe. Evie never should have gotten hurt. <br/>The door clicked and then Joyce slid out of the bathroom, a bloody towel and first aid supplies crumpled in her hands.<br/>“Is she okay?” Hopper asked, stepping forward before Joyce was out of the door.<br/>“She’ll <i>be</i> okay.” Joyce began after she closed the door again. “She’s lucky to be alive, Hop. Her arm it’s – “ Joyce pressed her knuckles to her lips, the memory of what she had just seen knocking her sick. She took a moment, swallowing hard and blinking twice. “She’s still shaken up, and she needs to rest more than anything, but she’s cleaning herself up right now; there was glass in her hair and caught up in her sweater.”<br/>Hopper noticed the blue wool tucked under Joyce’s arm. <br/>“Hopper, what happened?”<br/>“Apparently she made a call at the weekend to the station about something in the woods – only we never got that message.” His eyes were dark, rage radiating through as he continued. “The State troopers showed up and claimed that they’d been sent by me.”<br/>“Fucking assholes. No one gave you a heads up? The- The doc didn’t call you?”<br/>“I’ve heard nothing since they packed up and moved on out.” Hopper lit another cigarette, his emotions too high to not smoke right now. “I got there just in time Joyce. Any longer and Evie – Evie-“ He couldn’t bring himself to say it, the thought alone was already enough to shake him.<br/>Joyce placed her hand on his arm sympathetically, understanding what he couldn’t say. “I’m going to throw this away and get her something to change into. Go and sit down.”</p><p>Hopper reluctantly moved away, but he didn’t sit down. He couldn’t – not yet. Instead he leaned in the kitchen archway, the fumbling at the dining table grabbing his attention.<br/>“What?” His voice was loud, deep, commanding.<br/>Six faces looked at him, their eyes wide as though he had caught them with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar.<br/>“Tell me.” His eyes fixed on El’s.<br/>“Bad.” She said, glancing at Dustin.<br/>“Don’t. Don’t tell me you’ve got another pet again.”<br/>“No. No. I learned my lesson after Dart.” Dustin insisted, instead reaching for a jar in his bag.<br/>“We found this.” Lucas started, sliding his chair to the side as Hopper slowly approached the table.<br/>“We wanted to show Mr Clarke, ask him what it was.” Mike added, following Hop’s hand as he lifted the jar up for a closer look. Inside was a clear, viscous residue that filled about a quarter of the jar.<br/>“It was half that amount when we collected it.” Will’s voice was quiet, and of everyone at the table he seemed to be the most uncomfortable right now.<br/>“What is it?” Nancy came over from the couch, Jonathan right behind her.<br/>“Some kind of biofilm, we think.” Mike shrugged non-committedly in that way most teenagers thought was an acceptable answer to everything.<br/>“Where was this?” Hop asked, rolling the jar under the light and watching as the slimy contents moved with it, sliding slowly over the glass, slower than sand in an hourglass.<br/>“At the junk yard.” Dustin said, watching Hopper closely, fidgeting a little whenever he moved the jar too quickly. “We’ve never seen anything like it before, so –“<br/>“So you put it in a jar to show Mr Clarke?” Joyce finished, coming to stand at Hopper’s side with her hands on her hips, sleeves still rolled up from where she had treated Evelyn’s wounds, a speck of her blood near the collar of her shirt that had gone unnoticed.</p><p>Will nodded, looking apologetically at his mother. Joyce couldn’t be mad at him, not after everything he had been through. She did, right then however, wish she could take him away from all of this now it was happening again. To Maine, like Bob had wanted them to do.</p><p> </p><p>“Marty Smith.” Hopper whispered, remembering the slime and algae he had seen Friday morning.<br/>“What?” Joyce turned her head to him.<br/>“When we found Marty’s body, this slime was on him. It was on his hand and arm.” He gestured to himself, indicating exactly where it had been on the corpse.<br/>“Did it kill him?” Jonathan asked, his voice tense and barely shielding the worry beneath.<br/>“No. Gary is pretty convinced it was a heart attack.”<br/>“Heart attacks can be induced by extreme fear.” The voice that spoke was tired, scratchy.</p><p>Hopper turned around to see Evelyn leaning against the wall with her good hand, the other limp at her side but wrapped in a thick bandage that looped around her hand and finished an inch below her elbow. She was wearing an orange t-shirt with a thick white trim around the collar and sleeves, coupled with a pair of brown trousers that were just a tad short in the leg for her. Her bare feet were tucked into black socks and her curls were still wet. <br/>“You should be resting.” Hopper said gently, not happy with how pale she remained. There were bags under her heavy eyes and she looked unsteady on her feet when she moved.<br/>“So I replay how I nearly died two hours ago? No thanks.” She swayed, coming to standing on the other side of him, plucking the jar from his hands to examine it herself. “Slime mold.”<br/>“You know this stuff?” Hopper asked, twisting his body to face her more directly.<br/>“It was on a tree by the water.” Evelyn shrugged, putting the jar back down on the table. “It’s not uncommon.”<br/>“What is it?” Joyce asked, helping Evelyn sit down at the table when Dustin vacated his seat for her.<br/>“There’s more than nine hundred species of it.” Evelyn began, her voice thick with exhaustion, slowly turning the jar in front of her. “They’re eukaryotic organisms that can live as single cells, but they can also combine together to form multicellular reproductive structures when needed.”<br/>“And for those of us who aren’t science teachers?” Hopper asked gruffly, folding his arms as he shifted his weight closer to the back of Evie’s chair.<br/>“Slime, but it’s alive, basically.” Evelyn’s hand left the jar to cradle her bandaged arm which pulsed beneath the sterile dressing. “They’re single cells, but they come together to form a living structure – a plasmodia.” Her head felt too light to keep upright. It felt like it would roll off her shoulders any second, like something out of a cartoon.<br/>“Like fungi?” Mike asked, his eyes lighting up as he realised what Evelyn was talking about.<br/>She nodded, propping her head against her good hand, fingers splayed across her clammy forehead. “Yeah. People think it’s a mushroom growing on damp logs, but it’s this. It thrives in damp places.”<br/>“Cold places.” Hopper added, looking at Joyce to see if she was following the same train of thought he was.<br/>“Away from the heat.” Joyce looked like she had seen a ghost, a monstrous figure from the past that she was trying hard to forget.<br/>“If it gets too hot, they dry up and die.” Evelyn mumbled, rubbing her aching forehead.<br/>Hopper grabbed the jar and looked at it, his brain trying to figure out how this was connected to the creatures from the Upside Down. “And this was from the junkyard?” The boys nodded in unison. “And it was also by your cabin, Evie?” She grunted her response. “And it was on Marty at the Quarry…”<br/>“So it’s all over Hawkins?” Jonathan asked from where he stood in the corner.<br/>“It’s like the slime that we cut through to get back here.” Nancy curled into Jonathan, not wanting to relive the memories of their evening in the woods two years ago or the hellish world she had found herself in. </p><p> </p><p>There was a loud, sudden knock at the door. It startled Evelyn who gasped and tripped as she started to stagger backwards out of the chair, falling against Hopper who gripped her arms to keep her steady.<br/>“Easy.”<br/>“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Dustin had manoeuvred his way through the small gathering, moving backwards towards the door, his hands at the level of his eye.<br/>“Hello?”<br/>“Steve?” Mike said his name like it was the most disgusting topping that could have been put on the pizza growing cold in front of them.<br/>“Steve Harrington? Am I the only one in town who didn’t know about the monsters in the woods?” Evelyn asked, roughly pulling away from Hopper and moving through to the kitchen. Her intentions had been to get a glass of water to calm her racing heart but the sight of the sink - of the windows - left her shaking, breathing rapidly and she turned around to find Joyce ready to steady her.<br/>“I’ll get you some water.” She said gently, sensing what Evelyn had needed but couldn’t get herself.<br/>When Joyce passed the glass to Evelyn, she let her hand linger between her shoulder blades, guiding Evelyn gently back to the seat she had jumped out of.<br/>“Miss Carter?” Steve Harrington stood with his hands on his hips, surveying the room but pausing in confusion at the new face to this usual gloomy party. “What the hell happened?” His eyes widened at the thickly bandaged arm of his science teacher.<br/>“What are you doing here?” Hopper asked, and Joyce noticed him take that step forward; the step that put his thigh against the back of the chair Evelyn was seated in.<br/>“Dustin called. Said something was up.”<br/>“I figured we’d need everyone here for this.” Dustin said, speaking as though he needed to calm the room down despite no one appearing to be all that riled up - yet. “We’ve spent too much time in the past splitting up and someone always gets hurt.”<br/>Of those in the room, it was Nancy, Steve and Joyce who shuffled uncomfortable, their thoughts instantly drifting to Barbara, and to Bob.</p><p>“We need to figure out how the slime mold is connected to the Demogorgon.” Mike spoke up first, growing impatient with the grieving silence that filled the room, and that had filled too many rooms over the last few years.<br/>“Demogorgon?” Evelyn put the near empty glass on the table, pinching her temples between thumb and littlest finger. “Okay, I think someone needs to explain all of this to me properly.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Disclaimer: I am slightly taking liberties with some of the science from here on out, bending it to the will of The Upside Down - so if you're well versed in science then I apologise. It's just a hobby to me and I've been pestering my poor friend's other half to check the ideas.</p><p>Anyway! I hope you enjoy. This is the start of the gritty stuff and I envision it running for quite a while.<br/>(When I started this fic, I was imagining 20-30 chapters, but now I think it'll be longer - so I hope you're in this for the long haul!)<br/>&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Blinded By Science</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hopper had slipped outside to get some fresh air and to think. He couldn’t hear his thoughts over the commotion inside. The kids were speaking over one another, interrupting themselves to explain the parts of the history story they had played a starring role in. At times they bickered over it too, one claiming to be the mastermind behind a plan and then Steve would holler at them for his own part…It was headache inducing.<br/>At least that thing was dead now. Hopper just hoped it was the only one. Last time there had been the one kept in a box, which ate a cat and nougat, but the rest had come later when the parasitic creature had clawed its way into Will Byers’ mind. So far no one seemed infected, but Hopper couldn’t check on the entire town. There was always going to be someone sick on any given day in Hawkins; colds kept doctors busy for many of the colder months and kids got sick all the time. He couldn’t blindfold and confuse everyone in town until a fever broke or a monster from another dimension started talking to them.</p><p>The door opened quietly, soft footsteps crossing to where he was sitting on the edge of the step, knees bent up in front of him. <br/>“When you said your daughter was special, I thought you meant it the way every other parent thinks their kid is special.” Evie’s voice was tired, soft, and she sat in the cold space beside him, socked feet pressing into the dirt. “I didn’t think you meant she was psychic with telekinetic powers.”<br/>“It’s hardly something I can shout from the rooftops.” He lit the cigarette between his lips, blowing the smoke out into the cool evening air.<br/>“I guess not.” She wiggled her toes in the dirt, feeling the chill already start to creep through her socks. “So, Hawkins is home to trans-dimensional, parasitic monsters that want to eat and enslave us all. Do I have that right?” Evie’s voice was tired, soft, and she sat in the cold space beside him, socked feet pressing into the dirt.<br/>“I thought it was over.”<br/>“But then a- a Demogorgon crashed through my window and almost ripped my arm off.” Evelyn dared a glance at Hopper, running her tongue over her teeth. “Thank you – for saving me.”<br/>Hopper nodded in return, pressing his lips together tight before he went and passed comment on how he never would have survived with a mourning Callahan at work.<br/>“How is your arm?” He asked instead as he looked across, his eyes settling on the white fabric of the bandage that was almost glowing in the twilight. <br/>She rotated it, stretching it out tentatively. “It throbs, feels like it’s just going to drop off. Joyce gave me something – which kicked in around the time Steve became a member of the babysitter’s club – and that’s helped. It’s also made me feel like this is just some terrible dream.” <br/>“I wish it was, Evie.”</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn wasn’t okay – far from it. She was going through the motions, focusing on the parts of all this that she could turn into logic. She kept dragging the science to the forefront of her mind, putting the mysteries into boxes of data that she could explain with theories from a world she knew more about. She took away the magic, supernatural elements and kept hammering at the ones she could break down into analytical data. Doing that kept her calm, because underneath all of that was an emotional mess. She wanted to run, but had no energy to. She wanted to scream, but her throat scratched even when she spoke quietly. This version of Hawkins was something right out of a nightmare, or one of those old horror movies Joey and Charlie would watch after she was in bed. She was pissed at not knowing any of this when she moved back, angry that no one had told her of the risk. And yet she understood that they thought it was over – done – that Hawkins could go back to being the sleepy little town that it was. There were too many feelings swirling in her tired heart, the one fighting to beat and to heal her damaged body. The bandage on the arm was the only visible one, but Joyce had put band-aids and dressings on her legs, too, cleaning the stinging scratches while promising Evelyn that they should heal fine. She had noticed Joyce hadn’t said the same about her arm. The constant throb was an unpleasant reminder of what had already happened that night, keeping her continually on edge as she kept telling herself to stick to the science – to the thing she was good at.</p><p> </p><p>“Y’know, I listened to how it ended last time? With you and El closing the gate, with Will literally sweating out the – what was it? Mindflayer? If any single cell remained alive, even weakly, it could explain how it came back.” She needed to say it. Evelyn needed the scientific analysis to mentally digest the more surreal parts of the evening.<br/>“What do you mean?”<br/>“Slime mold.” Evelyn shivered against the cold, realising she had come outside without a coat to process the information dump dropped on her by a bunch of teenagers.<br/>“What?” Hopper would normally have offered her his coat, but it was still laying on the ground by the truck, blood-soaked and crumpled.<br/>“There’s a variation of slime mold that is known for specifically living in damp places; rotten logs, under mulch – that sort of thing. It feeds on the bacteria there, but when the food is gone it sends a signal through a biochemical molecule and hundreds of thousands of fellow cells meet up, merge together and go to find food.” Evelyn tried to keep it simple, even though her brain was giving her scientific classifications and putting dates and names to theories and discoveries.<br/>“Merge up? You mean they all come together to make that slimy stuff?”<br/>Evelyn nodded, pushing her frizzy air-dried curls from her face. “It’s perfectly normal in nature. They travel in a, well, I suppose it’s a slug like form and disperse when food is found, starting again once it’s gone – it’s teamwork at a basic, biological form.”<br/>“But they don’t become anything more than slime, right?”<br/>“No. But the - the Demogorgon might use a biochemical signal like the slime mold – something that allows it to communicate with others of its kind.” Focusing on the science meant Evelyn was breathing steadily, and that she was less aware of the constant, heated throb of her arm – at least she was until she gestured a little too vigorously. Then she hissed, cradling it to her chest as her thoughts sobered. “Slime mold – when the surroundings become inhabitable it disperses itself as spores, allowing it to develop into a new version of itself – a new amoeba – and then the lifecycle begins anew.” She shrugged, reminding Hopper that she didn’t know any of this for definite. “Look, it’s only a theory, but if there is a similar connection then maybe the De-Demogorgon-“<br/>“You don’t have to keep using the stupid names the kid gave it.”<br/>“Giving it a name takes away some of the fear. It’s not some totally unknown entity that can’t be explained or broken down.” Evelyn confessed, thinking that the only thing even better than some fantasy name from the teenagers would be a scientific classification that allowed her to know everything about the creature.<br/>Hopper stayed silent, wishing that there wasn’t anything to know about at all. After a moment, Evelyn shifted her weight and coughed softly.<br/>“As I was saying, if there is a similar connection then maybe the Demogorgon can disperse enough of something to come back from.”<br/>“That stuff is like the gloop we pulled off Will when we saved him. But the gate was closed.”<br/>“From what I heard in there, the first time this happened there was more than one entrance to the – did the kids call it the Upside Down?” <br/>Hopper recalled Nancy and Jonathan talking about portals in the woods, doors to the parallel world where Will had been trapped, where Barbara had died.<br/>“But it was the gate in the lab – that was the main door. The rest were temporary.”<br/>Evelyn tucked her knees closer to her chest, looking up at Hopper as she chewed on her lip. “Even a locked door can be opened with the right key.”<br/>Hopper felt his heart sink. El had closed the gate and the lab stood abandoned – he was sure of that. No one had been in there, but maybe Evie was on the right track; maybe there was something residual still lingering in Hawkins that had brought the monsters back.<br/>He ran his hand over his face. “We have to stop it.”<br/>The conversation fell for a moment, neither of them moving, both looking out into the approaching darkness. </p><p>“Chemicals.” Evelyn said, coughing as her voice cracked.<br/>“What kind?”<br/>She shrugged, wincing as her wounded arm pressed a little too hard against her shins. “It’s hard to say. But you’d need a lot of it, a perfect composition, too. If it was wrong, then it could enhance the slime mold’s ability to move or transmit the signal. Or it could do nothing at all – neither help nor hinder.” She shook her head, tucking her chin against her chest and breathing against the palm of her hand.<br/>“Would the school have enough?”<br/>She laughed quietly against her skin, shaking her head. “Hawkins High barely has enough for the syllabus.” A spark appeared in her heavy eyes and she sat up a little straighter. “Although, I do have an old professor in Milwaukee who owes me one hell of a favour.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>My posting has finally managed to catch up to my writing (for the time being), so depending on how much time is stolen by my tedious work and to-do list, there may be a day between posts for a little while.<br/>I'm hoping not, since the next chapter is half written already, and I'm full of inspiration to keep blasting through the next chunk of the story!</p><p>Anyway, enough rambling, hope you enjoyed the chapter! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Take Your Stubborn Heart...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What do you mean I’m not coming?!” Evelyn’s raised voice startled those in the house as she entered behind Hopper who slammed the door before he spoke.<br/>
“I mean – You’re not coming!” His deep voice was gruff, reverberating around the room as he turned on his heel to tower over Evie who didn’t so much as flinch.<br/>
“First off, you have no clue what you need. Secondly, Professor Schultz isn’t going to give anything to you. Thirdly –“<br/>
“Are you done yet?” Hopper deadpanned, irritably fumbling with his pack of Camels.<br/>
“No – I’m obviously not or I wouldn’t have said ‘thirdly’!”  Evelyn snatched the cigarette from his mouth before he could light it, only making him glare down at her more as she tossed it to the floor. “<i>Thirdly</i>, you need to test it and I’m pretty certain you already told me that you always had a distaste for science – so how in the hell would you know how to do that without me?!”<br/>
Joyce cautiously approached the arguing pair, but kept enough space between herself and them so that she wasn’t directly in the line of fire from the short-tempered Police Chief or the hot-blooded Science Teacher.<br/>
“What’s going on, you guys?” She asked tentatively, gaze moving between the scowling duo.<br/>
“I have an idea that might stop the spread of this slime mold, but Mr Lone Ranger here doesn’t want my help – which he needs!”<br/>
“I don’t!” His shouting might have gotten him results in the past, but Evelyn had been a science teacher for several years now and she wasn’t intimidated when someone raised their voice at her.<br/>
“Your have no clue what you’ll need, how to mix it, or even what to look for in the results!” Evelyn yelled at him, shaking her head at how pig-headed Hopper was being.<br/>
“You can tell me!”<br/>
“Or, I can just do it – which would be much quicker than re-educating you on chemical compounds and how to use half of the equipment you’ll need.” Evelyn folded her arms, refusing to show pain when her bandaged arm screeched at her.<br/>
“You almost died tonight - you need rest.” If Hopper was hoping that would bring Joyce into the argument, he was sorely mistaken, as his old friend simply stood there, grimacing more as the argument played out.<br/>
“If that’s all you’re worried about I can rest on the way to Milwaukee!”<br/>
“Wait, Milwaukee?” That got Joyce’s attention.<br/>
Evelyn took a deep breath, bottling the remnants of her anger as she told herself it wasn’t Joyce who she was mad at. It was just Hopper and his dumb, stubborn, stupid ways.<br/>
“The things I need for this can’t be found in a science supply closet at a high school.” She said calmly, her tone entirely different to the one she had been using on the frowning Police Chief. “But my old college does, and someone there can get me what I need.”<br/>
“Okay.” Joyce said slowly, glancing up at Hopper who was shooting daggers at Evelyn. “And why can’t she go?”<br/>
“You saw the state of her Joyce – she’s been barely conscious all evening!”<br/>
“I’m standing right here.” Evelyn waved her hand in front of Hopper’s nose. He snatched it from the air, fingers tight around hers as he threw it back to her side.<br/>
“Is it easy enough to do?” Joyce asked Evelyn, continuing to speak to the pair in a calm tone, one her boys had heard plenty of times over the years after scraped knees and rough days. There were very few people in the world who wouldn’t respond to a kind, motherly tone. That was something Joyce had learned over the last few years. And when it didn’t work they often responded to the angry mother.<br/>
“For me, yeah.” Evelyn stated confidently, but sharply.<br/>
“But not for Hopper-“<br/>
“Oh, c’mon, Joyce-“<br/>
“You’d need more than high school science to know how to do it efficiently.” Evelyn said, slowly turning back to Hopper as she spoke. “And I’ve told him that <i>a dozen times</i> already!”<br/>
Joyce shrugged at Hopper, sucking her lip between her teeth. “That rules all of us out but Evelyn, Hop.”<br/>
“No. No. It’s out of the question!”<br/>
“If you don’t take me then I’ll drive myself.” Evelyn threatened, staring up at Hopper as he looked at her, rage in his eyes at her determined defiance.<br/>
“You can’t drive. Did you see your arm?”<br/>
“Then someone will have to drive me.” She had him trapped. She had baited him into a corner with her threat and now he was pinned there, no way out that he could willingly take.<br/>
“Fine. You can come. But you do what I say when I say it.” He ground the words out between clenched teeth, doing his damn best to hold back the hot explosion hammering in his chest.<br/>
“Until the science part.” Evelyn said sarcastically, moving by him and towards Joyce’s telephone. “Because if I followed your instructions then you’d probably blow up the building, since it’s all or nothing with you.” She looked at Joyce, her tone changing again. “Can I use your phone, Joyce?”<br/>
Joyce nodded, a little alarmed by how quickly she could switch from fiery rage to peaceful calm. Again, it was the teacher in her. She could discipline a student with fierce words and a raised voice, but the rest of the class weren’t the target of that attack – most of the time – so the next second she was back to being calm and friendly. It kept classes on their toes and also reminded her students that she wasn’t always the friendly, welcoming teacher they assumed equalled a pushover, too.<br/>
Joyce had been nothing but kind to her, which was why she put on the air of calm collection when in fact she wanted nothing more than to storm around and hammer her fists against Hopper until he listened for once in his damn life.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn made a phone call, turning her back to the room and speaking quietly enough that no one could overhear. While she did that, Hopper took a moment to calm himself down before he approached El, who was still sitting at the table next to Mike.<br/>
“Where is Milwaukee?” She asked, as soon as he crouched in front of her.<br/>
“It’s a long way away. But I’ll be back in a day or two.” He promised, his voice tender yet firm. “For now, you’ll stay with Joyce and Will.”<br/>
She nodded, but he saw the flicker of upset in her eyes. He reached out for her hand, squeezing it in his.<br/>
“I don’t like leaving you, kid, but if I’m away then you’re the only one who can keep your friends safe.” He hated doing this. He hated telling El that she might have to fight again, that people might get hurt again. But Hopper hated lying to her even more. El was extraordinary, and without her he knew that Hawkins would have been destroyed by now. She was strong, powerful, and as much as he wanted her to have a normal life, he knew the time for pretence was over.<br/>
“I’ll call. Every chance I get I’ll call and check in, okay?” El nodded, understanding that her friends could be in danger again and that this was the only way to protect them. “Stick with Joyce. Run if you have to. But keep yourself safe.” Hopper pulled her from the chair, holding her tight in his arms, needing to feel that she was alright. “I love you, kid.”<br/>
El’s response was mumbled against his chest, but her arms wrapped around his and she squeezed him back. After a moment, Hopper reluctantly pulled himself away.<br/>
“I’ll take care of her, Hop.” Joyce was there, smiling softly, but he could see the fear deep in her eyes, hidden from the kids who all seemed a little more nervous since he had last been in the room.<br/>
“I know you will.” He wondered if he had missed something between them all, but Joyce’s hand on his arm stopped him from asking.<br/>
“And you take care of her.” She whispered, bobbing her head towards Evelyn who was finishing up on the phone.<br/>
Hopper grunted and moved across the room to the front door, reaching it just as Evelyn put the phone back on the cradle.<br/>
“He’ll be expecting us first thing.” She confirmed, blinking when Joyce pressed a warm coat into her hands followed by a small knapsack.<br/>
“You’ll need to change that dressing and keep it clean.” Joyce explained as Evelyn peered into the bag, eyes falling on the roll of bandages and medical supplies stuffed in it, along with the clean t-shirt and bottle of painkillers.<br/>
“Thanks.”<br/>
“Oh, and you’ll need these.” Joyce handed her a pair of sneakers. “They might be a little worn, but they’re the right size.”<br/>
“Perfect.” Evelyn crouched to wedge her feet into the shoes, almost forgetting entirely that she had spent this entire time with clean but borrowed socks on her feet. The slippers she had been wearing in her cabin had fallen off somewhere along the way and were either lost to the woods now or tucked inside the Blazer out front.<br/>
"Can I take this?" Evelyn closed her hand around the jar of slime as soon as she stood up.<br/>
"Uh, sure." Mike said, as Dustin nodded his head.<br/>
"Thanks." Evelyn gave them a small smile and put the jar in the bag with the other supplies.</p><p>“I still don’t like this.” Hopper grumbled.<br/>
“You don’t have to like it. You just have to drive.” Evelyn countered sharply, walking outside to the truck, stooping to pick up the fallen coat emblazoned with the logo for Hawkins Police.<br/>
The blood had dried on it now, the fleece inside matted and stiff. She dusted some of the dirt off the waterproof outside and tossed it over the hood of the truck to Hopper. He caught it with one hand and unlocked the driver’s door with the other. Joyce and the kids stood on the porch, watching them as they drove away.</p><p> </p><p>“We should stop soon.” Evelyn said, breaking the two-hour long silence between herself and Hopper that had started the moment they left Hawkins<br/>
“Stop? What the hell are you on about?” Hopper glanced across at her, but quickly moved his focus back to the long stretch of highway.<br/>
“It’s getting late.”<br/>
“We don’t have time to stop.”<br/>
“We’re not getting anything from Professor Schultz until the morning – a few hours of sleep and a hot shower won’t do us any harm before then.” She looked out of the window, watching nothing more than the silhouettes of trees as they whizzed by. “You reek of blood and sweat.”<br/>
Hopper scoffed and tightened his grip on the wheel. “Well you’ll just have to deal with it, sweetheart, because I’m not stopping.”</p><p>Evelyn lightly massaged her arm. The strong painkillers Joyce had given her had started to wear off, and the burning, the throbbing, the nauseating pain was slowly taking over. And it was the kind of pain that radiated from somewhere deep in the body, stretching through every limb and muscle. Her legs were stinging from the scratches, the material of the trousers irritating those that had been too slight to bandage. She couldn’t get comfortable; the moment she did something else started to ache and she needed to shift her weight again.</p><p>“Please, Hopper.” Her voice was the softest it had been to him in hours. She didn’t want to cry in front of him, but she felt the prickling of tears anyway. “I’m exhausted.”<br/>
“You can sleep there. Plenty of room.”<br/>
She closed her eyes, biting her lip to try and remain in control. “Hop, I nearly died tonight. I learnt that Hawkins is a gateway to a world only ever hypothesised by scientists before and usually it’s written off as crazy talk. I am in pain – a lot of pain – because I was <i>mutilated</i> by a faceless creature from said hypothetical world.” She looked across at him only when she was sure she had won the fight against her tears. “I need a bed. I need six hours of sleep. And I need to clean and change this dressing before we get to the college.”<br/>
She saw the crack in his stony visage. His eyes softened for a moment and she knew he was torn between giving in to her and the duty he felt to El, to Joyce, to every oblivious soul in Hawkins whose lives could be in danger.<br/>
“We can’t get into the college until morning. The rooms I need are locked up tight and will be until Professor Schultz is on campus – which is 8am at the very earliest. If we don’t stop to rest, we’ll be there right after midnight and have eight hours just sitting in this damn truck.” She glanced down at his uniform; the tan stained with blood – her blood. “You’re also soaked in my blood. Which is disconcerting and will only lead to a hundred questions that we don’t have answers for – at least not answers that are socially acceptable because almost everyone who can answer have signed NDAs with the federal government.” She shook her head, wondering if the men in black would come knocking at her door after all of this was over, too. “And I’m not being the crazy one spouting off about things that go bump in the night.”<br/>
Silence fell again, and Evelyn looked back out of the window, believing Hopper was going to stick to his plan to drive straight to Milwaukee.<br/>
“Your arm hurts?” He asked, tone somewhere between gruff and reluctant sympathy.<br/>
“Everywhere hurts.”<br/>
He moved the Blazer across the quiet lanes, taking the exit ramp when it appeared half a mile later. Evelyn searched for the words, for the questions, but her jaw just hung agape instead. She didn’t know if Hopper knew of a place to stay, if he was just taking a different route, or if he was going to ditch her on the side of the road and try to carry on without her. She doubted the latter, but after the last week of her life she was fairly confident anything could happen.</p><p>They were still sitting in silence when Hopper turned the Blazer into the parking lot of a motel. Its flickering vacancy sign the most inviting thing Evelyn had seen since the now forgotten red velvet dress in the store window.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The next chapter is very exciting xD At least, it is to me!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. ...And Let Me Make It Better</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“They’ve only got one room.” Hopper returned from the office as Evelyn was feeling around under the seat of the Blazer for her remaining lost slipper. “It’s got a couch though, so I took it.” <br/>She groaned, stretching her fingers as far as they would go to try and grip the soft material.<br/>“Look, I know it’s not ideal, but it’s all they had.” He had mistaken her groan of pain for one of irritation. “And you’re the one who wanted to rest.” She grunted again, fingers closing around the escaped slipper, tugging it out front and feeling the muscles in her shoulders tighten quickly.<br/>Grimacing, Evelyn clamped a hand over the side of her neck, pressing down to relieve that short, sharp pain she knew would pass in a few minutes. “What?”<br/>Hopper rolled his eyes, grabbing the bag Joyce had given them from the footwell and gesturing for Evelyn to get out of the truck. “I got us the room.” He hated repeating himself. “Number twelve.” He tossed the keys to Evelyn who fumbled with them before they hit the ground.<br/>“That was smart, tossing the keys to the woman with a bound hand.” She mumbled, glaring at Hop as she bent down to retrieve them, her body cracking and screaming as she did so. </p><p>The bites and scratches may have been the only visible injuries, but her body was wracked with pain. It was easy to forget she had tested the limits of her muscles when she dragged herself across the kitchen floor by her fingertips. They felt bruised now, though the only thing she noticed when she looked was the chipped fingernails. The rest of her body was tender, lazy muscles suddenly forced to do more than they had done in a very long time. Now they protested the slightest of movement, garnering support from those who hadn’t really played a role in the evening’s events, but who still wanted to share in the cries of their comrades. </p><p>She held her back as she straightened, inhaling sharply as more joints cracked and moaned. Hopper had vanished from sight. He wasn’t at the door to room twelve, or by the truck. His vanishing act left Evelyn feeling more anxious than she had anticipated as she realised that she was alone – truly alone – for the first time since the Demogorgon attack.<br/>She turned the room key in the lock, suddenly desperate to put any kind of defensive barrier between herself and the rest of the world. It was dark, the porch lights to the rooms dim, and in some cases barely flickering on at all. A large, mostly empty parking lot stretched in front of the row of doors and that sight had never seemed quite so terrifying until now.</p><p>Shutting the door, she pressed her back against it, closing her eyes while she took a deep breath and reminded herself that they weren’t in Hawkins anymore, and that the monster that had attacked her was dead. She was safe. Nothing could hurt her now. She didn’t know exactly where in America they had stopped, but she was safe, and assumed Chicago was the closest city given how long they had been driving.</p><p> </p><p>A fist against the door made her shriek. Then she remembered Hopper and tugged the handle, stepping aside as he came in, eyes moving everywhere.<br/>“What happened?”<br/>“Nothing. You scared me.” <br/>“I scared you.” The perplexity behind his gaze softened quickly, and he held up the paper bag in his hand. “Neither of us have eaten. I went to grab something from the diner across the street.” He emptied his pockets of candy bars and chips too. “And I emptied a vending machine.”<br/>Evelyn blinked up at him, noticing how he completely filled the narrow doorway. He squeezed by her to set the food on the small, round table, and she closed the door, sliding the chain across it and double checking that it was locked tight.<br/>“You were right.” Hopper mumbled, unbuttoning his shirt. “The guy in the diner asked about the blood.”<br/>When he got no response, Hopper turned to look at Evelyn. She was white as a sheet, moving away from the door slowly.<br/>“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He said sincerely, unfolding the paper bag to pull the burgers out, remembering the extra pickles for Evelyn. Maybe he should have said her name instead of knocking, but then again maybe he should have told her where he was going, too.</p><p>Hopper felt conflicted. He wanted to keep Evie safe. He didn’t want her to be a part of this. Admitting that he needed her would put her in danger, and too many people had already died because of the monsters in the Upside Down. Not to mention, when they had been sitting outside Joyce’s, talking, all he could think about was Callahan. She was cold, she had shivered right next to him and he didn’t offer her a coat or put his arm around her because of the weedy little deputy Hopper was suddenly so very jealous of. Even when he had ordered her burger he had caught himself wondering if ‘Phil’ knew how she liked the extra pickles, and that she would always leave a tiny portion of the bottom bun when she was done. He wasn’t thinking clearly around Evie. He wanted to protect her, but at the same time he wanted Callahan to prove he could do the same. He wanted to keep Evie close and at the same time he wanted to push her away – far away.</p><p>“Hey, come and sit down.” Hopper gently took Evie’s wrist in hand and guided her to the table, pulling the chair out for her. “You’ll feel better after you’ve eaten.” He put her burger in front of her and waited for her to unwrap the thin grease paper, then he did the same and took a seat opposite her.<br/>She took the first bite and closed her eyes, jaw slowly moving. <br/>“Here.” He put the fries and cold drink in front of her. “They didn’t do slush.” He hoped to pull a smile from her, a laugh or a witty comment. He needed to know she was okay, even if she was mad at him.<br/>She reached out and took a sip from the straw, the ice cold but slightly flat coke washing down the dry burger.<br/>“I’m going to be jumping at shadows for a while, aren’t I?”<br/>Hopper wished he had another answer to her frightened words. “Probably. But you wouldn’t be the first person.”<br/>“But I bet other people can talk about it.” She reached for the fries, slathering one in the pot of ketchup. “Or they at least have something they can blame it on.” </p><p>Hopper recognised that she was talking about the war. However, throughout their short-lived friendship she hadn’t been comfortable talking explicitly about Vietnam. It had claimed the lives of two of her brothers, so he could understand how it might not be the most pleasant conversation to have. He also suspected she didn’t like the idea of the men she had idolised as a little girl being killers of any kind. Evie had only been six when Joey left, nine when Charlie joined, and she had probably spent a few years imagining him as some kind of valiant hero, innocently ignorant to what war really was like.</p><p>“Well, so long as it won’t make Callahan jealous, you can always talk to me.” Hopper was slowly resigning himself to the reality; he could only ever be Evie’s friend, and he would be there for her in honour of Joey.<br/>“Callahan? What – oh – ew.” She pulled a tough piece of beef from her mouth, dropping the overcooked morsel on the wrapper. “This burger is horrible.” Her nose scrunched up as she flicked the lid from the coke to just gulp the contents.<br/>“Yeah, it’s not the greatest.” Hopper agreed, although his stomach was grateful enough for it anyway. He hadn’t realised until he saw the bright diner lights just how long it had been since he had last eaten. <br/>Evie laughed softly, reaching for another cold, soggy fry. “Ketchup helps.”<br/>A lopsided smile tugged at his lips and he reached over the table to scoop a healthy dollop of the sauce onto his own fistful of French fries.</p><p> </p><p>After they were full on barely edible fast food, and after using the room phone to check in with Joyce and say goodnight to El, Hopper turned his attention to the brown stains on his uniform. He had been sporting a Henley under the shirt, so he at least had something to else to wear, but his trousers were speckled in the same dried blood and he didn’t have a spare pair of them. He took the clothes to the bathroom, leaning in the doorway as he turned back to Evie. She was sitting on the edge of the double bed, toeing the sneakers and socks from her feet.<br/>“Do you want a shower first?”<br/>She shook her head, looking over her shoulder at him. “I had one at Joyce’s.”<br/>“Oh, right, yeah.” He remembered the wet curls, the scent of citrusy soap when he stood close to her. He paused, trying to think of something else to say to her, but his mind suddenly became a black hole and every word in the English language was sucked into it. He just turned and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind him as he peeled out of his clothes, tossing the sullied tan fabric into the wash basin as he turned the shower on and got the water hot.</p><p> </p><p>The sound of the shower was oddly relaxing. Evelyn sat on the bed, toes pressed into the soft carpet, and looked around the small, modest room. She wanted to just climb into the bed and fall asleep, but that felt rude. She would at least wait until Hopper was out of the shower. While she waited, she fiddled with the radio on the bedside table, twisting the dial until she got it tuned into a channel that didn’t crackle or fade in and out. The opening bars of ‘Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me’ filled the room and Evelyn smiled softly to herself. It almost felt normal. It reminded her of the road trip she had taken with her ex-boyfriend and their friends; Late nights in the motel, eating junk food and drinking cheap beer from some corner liquor store. <br/>Those days felt like a lifetime away, but for a moment – a single, blissful moment – it felt like it could be one of them again, where the only the thing she had to fear was oversleeping the next day. </p><p>Evelyn was lost in those thoughts, when the shower stopped. She looked towards the bathroom door, hearing Hopper moving behind it, soft little noises coming through as he grumbled to himself.<br/>“Oh, fuck.”<br/>“Hop?” She moved quickly to the door, leaning her ear against it. “You okay?”<br/>She didn’t get a response, but heard him groaning. <br/>“Hop?” She rattled the door handle, her heart beating a little faster, picturing him hurt on the other side of the chipboard.<br/>He opened the door, forcing her to step back sharply before she fell through it.<br/>“What?” He asked gruffly.</p><p>Hop had a towel slung low on his hips, his hair and upper body still dripping with water. Evelyn kept her eyes up, choosing not to look down at him and take in his wide, strong physique. He might not have had a six pack, but there was still strength in his broad shoulders, his thick arms. She hoped it was just the residual steam in the small room that made her feel warm.<br/>“I was just checking you were okay. I thought something had happened when you shouted.” <br/>He shook his head, gesturing to the sink behind him. “I put my clothes in to soak, but the water was cold.”<br/>She blinked, pushing past him, her hips briefly pressing against his. “That’s what you want.”</p><p>Evelyn pulled the sodden clothes from the basin, drained the water and then searched out for the worst of the stain on his shirt first, tossing the soaking wet trousers into the shower for the time being. Hop watched over her shoulder as she turned the cold tap on again, waiting until it was icy before she held the fabric taut under the stream of water.<br/>“Hot water makes blood stains worse.” She explained, even though he didn’t ask. “It pushes the blood deeper into the fibres.”<br/>“How do you know that?” He asked, thinking it was a little bizarre for anyone – even a scientist – to know that.<br/>She smirked, twisting her neck to meet his suspicious gaze with a sly look of her own. “Every woman knows how to do it.” She looked back at the water, smiling as she noticed it was tinged pink as it swirled down the drain. “If we didn’t, we’d be throwing out our bed sheets instead of changing them.”<br/>Realisation slowly dawned on Hopper and he took a tiny step back, momentarily wondering if El would need the same lesson and how he went about dealing with that. Would he do it himself, or ask Evie, or Joyce?<br/>“See.” Evie leaned aside to let him see the tiny patch in the centre of the large stain that was slightly lighter now. “Pass me the soap, please.”<br/>Hop leaned into the shower and handed her the unscented, rectangular bar. She massaged it over the stain, kneading it out slowly, ignoring the chill in her fingers from the cold water. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t ignore the dampness slithering up her arm as the water soaked through the bandage. Emptying her hands, she picked at the thick crepe, slowly unravelling it as Hopper watched.</p><p> </p><p>Neither noticed the closeness of the other, or the way both of them were breathing just that little bit quicker now. They didn’t realise their hearts were beating in time, slightly faster than normal, as the damp dressing fell away from Evelyn’s arm, revealing the horrors underneath. <br/>She gasped, hand coming to her mouth as she felt the prickling of tears again. <br/>“Shit.” The curse slipped through Hopper’s list without him realising it.<br/>Her arm resembled a battlefield. Craters where the teeth had clamped down, tearing through the flesh like landmines on a war-torn field. Scarred, red moats crisscrossed her flesh, isolating patches of bruised skin. She had a bracelet of holes in her wrist, the wounds twisting around her entire forearm, violent rivers and lakes, dried up and crusty. The neat slice on her palm looked almost peaceful in comparison, a tidy line that bore only the memory of a clumsy mistake. <br/>Evelyn let out a body wracking sob, and before Hopper could respond to it, she was shimmying the trousers down her legs to look at her thighs. She ripped band-aids from her pale skin, opening one particular scratch again, watching the drip of blood trickle down her leg, over her knee. <br/>She stood there, in t-shirt and underwear, looking down at the long scratches that covered her thighs. Some overlapped, others were jagged, and a small amount could have just been from a poorly planned summer hike through thick brambles. Not that it helped any. All Evelyn saw was her once unblemished skin now marred and mutilated. Her arm would never heal fully. She knew at a glance that it would be scarred for the rest of her life, a constant, haunting reminder of the nightmare which had been far too real. </p><p>Her knees buckled, but before she hit the ground Hopper had pulled her to his chest. Her t-shirt dampened against him, but she didn’t care. All she could do was cry in his arms, hot tears and broken wails releasing everything she had been bottling down all evening; the anger, the fear, the confusion…it all came out in body wracking sobs that made it hurt to breathe. Her ribs felt like they were too tight around her gasping lungs, and her heart hurt more than it had ever done before. There was a heavy ache with every beat.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re alive. You’re okay.” Hop whispered to her, holding her and reminding himself of that, too. She was alive, in his arms, and for now, she was safe.<br/>“But look at me.”<br/>“You’re okay.” He pushed her back slightly, wiping her tears away with his thumbs. “Everyone has scars; some are just more obvious than others. But scars are a reminder that you lived – that you were strong.” She nodded, and he could see her trying to steady her breathing, find something to hold onto. “And if they bother Callahan so much then to hell with him.”<br/>Her puffy eyes met his, narrowed and confused. “Why do you keep bringing Phil up?” She asked thickly, pulling herself out of his hold entirely. “I thought he didn’t know anything about the last two years?”<br/>“He doesn’t.”<br/>“Then why would he know now?”<br/>“Because you-“<br/>“You think I’m going to blab to him?!” Her upset turned to anger and she shoved her way past Hopper to go back into the room. “I’m not the town gossip, Hopper! I’m not about to call Hawkins Post and tell them all about the monster in the woods.” She pushed past him again, grabbing his wet clothes. <br/>“I never said that-“ He pulled his boxer shorts up under the towel, not particularly wanting to have an argument when it was all he was wearing.<br/>“You were just implying it!” Angrily, she wrenched the clothes horse from where it was folded against the wall, tugging it open to lay Hopper’s drenched clothes across it. <br/>“How was I doing that?!” Hopper demanded to know, crossing back into the room, snatching his cigarettes from the remnants of their awful dinner.<br/>“I swear, you’re the nicest guy on the planet one minute, and then the next you’re the biggest shithead Hawkins has ever given birth to!” <br/>“Shithead?!” He noticed one of the gouges on Evelyn’s arm was leaking blood again and swapped his cigarettes for the small bag Joyce had packed.<br/>“Yeah, you’re –“ A fierce banging on the wall to the adjoining room cut Evelyn’s insult short. <br/>Hopper stalked over to her silently, though the irritation was still evident in his eyes as he gently snatched her arm from her side, sweeping the blood away with his thumb.<br/>“You treat me like the rest of them.” She spat; her voice quieter but the anger still remained.<br/>“The rest of who?” Hopper grumbled, using the antiseptic Joyce had packed to wipe across her arm, making sure to tend to every cut on her arm.<br/>“The women in Hawkins who you ask out and then leave hanging.”<br/>His heart dropped. How could she think she was anything like them? “You know now why I didn’t come.” He muttered, glancing at her bare thighs and slowly, unsure of it at first, pressed the little cotton pad against the scratch that had started oozing earlier.<br/>“It still doesn’t make it any less humiliating. Or explain why you couldn’t call.” The hurt broke through in her voice as he gently eased her down to the bed, crouching before her and pulling her leg out in front of him.<br/>“I didn’t think. And for that I am truly sorry.” She knew he was sincere, knew that Friday had been one hell of a day for both of them. The only difference was that her bad day had happened publicly, while his appeared like just another day at the office.<br/>“But I don’t understand why you don’t trust me.” She whispered, electricity shooting through her body as Hopper’s large hand closed around her thigh.<br/>“I do.”<br/>“Then why didn’t you want me to come with you?” His hand inched higher, reaching for the final scratch descending from her hipbone. “And why do you think I’m going to tell Phil about this?”<br/>“Because you and him…you’re close.” He couldn’t bring himself to say aloud that they were in a relationship.<br/>“I was close to my mom, too, but that doesn’t mean I told her everything.” Evelyn’s whole body was on fire, Hopper touching her like she hadn’t been touched in a very long time, even if it was just to clean her injuries. Joyce hadn’t paid this much attention to the scratches on her lower half. “If – If she knew I went out to Lover’s Lack with Stevie Mack instead of studying with Ann-Marie at the library she’d have killed me.”<br/>Hopper froze, his fingers just millimetres away from the edge of her underwear. “Stevie Mack? He thought he was James Dean.” </p><p>Stevie Mack had still been in Hawkins when Hopper made his own return. He acted ten years younger than he was, while his voice was thirty years older from smoking cigarette after cigarette. It was like he was afraid of being seen without one. He wore a leather jacket no matter the weather and you could hear his motorcycle when it was a street away. He picked up girls who rode on the back, a trophy with a heart for when he cruised into town acting like he owned it. He moved away a year later after a salacious rumour involving two sisters who were both pregnant. </p><p>“I never said he was a good choice.” Her breath hitched in her throat as he switched his attention to her other leg, cleaning the cuts high up on her thigh.<br/>“Oh yeah?”<br/>“Mmhm.” She bit her lip as he applied the slightest bit of pressure to her inner thigh, pressing the band-aid over the cut there. <br/>He placed the next three in silence, only speaking when he stretched the fourth and final one over the top of her knee. <br/>“What about Callahan?” He didn’t mean to ask it, but it came out before he could think straight.<br/>“Phil? What?” Her legs felt cold at his lack of touch. She blinked as he moved onto her arm, reminding her that this had been about treating wounds, not treating the tight knot low in her stomach that already begged for his touch again.<br/>“Never mind.” Hopper mumbled, slightly relieved his accidental question hadn’t brought forward an answer.<br/>“Why do you keep bringing him up if he’s not a part of this?” Evelyn asked, letting Hopper rebandage her arm, knowing it wasn’t something she could do herself.<br/>“Forget I did.”<br/>“No. Because you keep mentioning him like you think he’s a Russian spy or something.” Evelyn tapped her foot against Hopper’s bare leg to make him look at her. “What is it?”<br/>“Well it’s nothing to do with the Russians.” Hopper scoffed, cutting the bandage and tucking the loose end under before pinning it.<br/>“Then what?”<br/>“Will you let it go?”<br/>“No.” <br/>“Evie.” He growled, letting go of her completely and standing up, his knee cracking loudly.<br/>“Does he have a bigger dick than you or something?” Hopper spun around, jaw agape at her crude question.<br/>“What the fuck, Evie?!”<br/>The bang came on the wall again, this time accompanied by colourful curses.<br/>“I’m just trying to figure out what the deal is here.” She hissed, swinging her legs up onto the bed. “You’re namedropping him every chance you get.”<br/>“Because – you know what? No. Just forget I said anything.”<br/>“Fine.” Evie glowered at him, tossing the decorative floral blanket his way. “Sleep fucking tight, Hopper.”</p><p> </p><p>Hopper was confused. He didn’t know what he had said to start this fight or the one in the bathroom. All he had done was mention Callahan, suggesting that if he took issue with his girlfriend having scars then maybe he wasn’t worth Evie’s time, and just now he had wanted to know what made Callahan different from her previous boyfriends. Both times resulted in him being yelled at as though he was the bad choice! And yet, through all her yelling she had taken care of his still stained laundry, let him tend her wounds, and had now handed him a blanket so he didn’t get cold in the night. Was she mad at him or not? Was this some sort of test women used against men to trick them? His head was starting to throb from everything that had happened in the last thirty minutes.</p><p> </p><p>Hopper got on the sofa, stretching out as much as he could on the narrow cushions. The sofa was old, worn in too many places for a good night’s sleep and he knew he’d have a crick in his neck come morning. The lights went out as he was finishing his cigarette, and if he tilted his head he could see the soft silhouette of Evie, the thin sheet tucked around her narrow waist. <br/>He rolled over, putting his back to her. A spring dug into his hip, so he shifted again, only making it stab his thigh now. He flopped over to the opposite side, trying to shift away from it. That didn’t work. He wriggled towards the edge, away from the high back where the offending spring seemed to reluctant to share. Almost falling off entirely, he cursed under his breath and opened his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Get in the bed, Hopper.”<br/>“What?”<br/>“That couch is creaking and groaning more than you do.”<br/>“Creak? I don’t creak.”<br/>“Your knees disagree. Get in the bed.”<br/>“What exactly do you mean by that?”<br/>“Get. In. The. Bed. Hopper.” He hadn’t heard Evie snarl before, but in the dark it was a little terrifying – like she might pounce out of the shadows to attack.<br/>Slowly, he moved across the room, blanket in hand and found the empty half of the bed, climbing it and watching as Evie flipped sides so she wasn’t facing him.<br/>“I don’t creak.”<br/>“Shut up and go to sleep.”<br/>He grunted and rolled over, so his back was to hers, the pair of them resembling scowling bookends as they searched for sleep.</p><p>It didn’t come.</p><p>Evelyn flopped onto her back, staring at the shadowed ceiling.<br/>“How am I supposed to sleep?” She asked, sensing Hopper was still awake. “Every time I close my eyes I just see that faceless fucker coming through my window.”<br/>Hopper rolled over. “It’s not easy.” He didn’t want to say it out loud, but all he could see when he closed his eyes was Evie bleeding on her cabin floor. <br/>“I’m exhausted.” Her arm came up to cover her face. She thought she was going to cry again, but it must have just been the grittiness of her tired eyes.<br/>“Talk.”<br/>“What?”<br/>“Just talk – about anything. List your favourite songs, or food, or the memories that make you smile most.” Hopper’s voice was gentle, and he could feel her body heat beside him. “Just keep talking mindlessly. Eventually you’ll fall asleep.” He had done it with El when she first came to the cabin and woke up screaming from a nightmare. Only then he was the one who talked. He read stories or made them up, whispering them quietly until she faded back into a safe slumber.<br/>“Summer rain.”<br/>“Hm?”<br/>“It makes me happy. I know most people hate it because it ruins a nice sunny day at the pool, but I love it. Something about the coolness of it on my skin. It’s silly, but the rain seems fresher in the summer…”</p><p> </p><p>That night, Jim Hopper fell asleep to slow, dreamy whispers about summer rain and strawberry ice cream.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Wow. This was longer than I anticipated it being when I planned it out!<br/>And it was one hell of an emotional roller-coaster.</p><p>Enjoy this very long, slightly tropey, weirdly domesticated angst &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Pain and Logic</h2></a>
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    <p>When Hopper woke the next morning, it was because something was tickling his jaw. He went to move, but something had his arm pinned. Bleary eyed, he looked to his left and saw Evie snuggling closer, groaning at being disturbed. She was wrapped around his arm, clinging to it like a sleeping child would a teddy bear. Her bare leg was over his, their thighs pressed together. Slowly, sleepily, he realised his hand was on her hot leg, fingers splayed across the bruise mottled skin. She sighed dreamily, breath washing over his jaw where she was tucked against his neck, chin resting on his broad shoulder. Her loose fingers slipped between his and Hopper’s heart started to beat a little faster.</p><p>He moved his hand up the curve of her leg, fingertips brushing the thin lace trim of her modest underwear. His sleep addled mind took him back to the night before, when he had done the same thing while cleaning the scratches on her legs. They might have ended the night fighting, but that hadn’t been what Hopper wanted to do. Sitting between her legs, he had wanted nothing more than to push them further apart and press his lips against the sensitive apex of her thighs, to slide his fingers under the thin, blue cotton of her panties and feel her hot, slick core.<br/>
Then he had mentioned Callahan as a subconscious reminder to himself that Evie wasn’t his to touch or to even fantasise about touching. She was his deputy’s girl, and it was him who she ought to be curled up to in bed. That thought was as good as a cold shower right then, and Hopper tilted his head carefully to inhale her heady honeysuckle fragrance one last time.<br/>
“Evie.” He moved his hand from her leg, gently shaking her arm.<br/>
She stirred, rolling away and letting her hand flop down over her face. Instantly Hopper felt the cold air against his body, her heat gone.<br/>
“We need to get up.” He told her, sitting up in the bed and letting the sheets pool around his waist.<br/>
“Ugh. Everything hurts.” She grumbled, voice thick with sleep.</p><p> </p><p>She had slept peacefully, but that slight move of twisting in bed left her muscles crying out. Her arm was burning again, excruciating pain pulsating beneath the swathes of bandages Hopper had gently applied last night. Her back spasmed and twitched as she tried to get comfy, her thighs hot and heavy as she forced herself to lean back against the dusky pink, velvet headboard.<br/>
“Ugh.”<br/>
“Here.” Hopper handed her two of the painkillers and climbed from the bed to fetch her a glass of water.<br/>
“I should probably eat something first.” Evelyn said, blinking down at her palm until the round white pills came into focus. A Snickers bar landed on the bed beside her. She picked it up and let her head fall back against the wall. “This isn’t breakfast.”<br/>
“We’ll get real food on the road.” Hopper promised, checking to see if his clothes had dried. The bottom of his trouser legs was still damp, and they were still stained since their argument had interrupted Evie’s cleaning of them. They were wearable, at least.<br/>
She whimpered as she pushed herself up from the bed, taking a bite of the chocolate bar before knocking back the pills. Slowly, and extremely shakily she made her way to the bathroom, wincing with every other step, and with one hand pressed against her lower back where it kept spasming.</p><p> </p><p>Hopper wished he could help her, but there was really nothing he could do. He just hoped the pain medication kicked in sooner rather than later, and if anything, it might help her get a little more rest during the final stretch of the drive. She needed it. He was certain of that much and knew that if she had just listened to him and had stayed in Hawkins she could have spent the whole day sleeping and allowing her body to heal.</p><p>He made a call to Joyce, checking in before she went to work. Apparently, none of the kids wanted to go to school today, so Jonathan was staying with Will and El and she expected the others to show up once she was gone. Hopper was happy to hear that she had told Jonathan to lock the doors once everyone had arrived and not to unlock them again until she came home. He didn’t really want to condone the kids skipping school, but he understood it. He was surprised any of them had actually gone home last night given what had happened. He was used to them sticking together when things went bad, ‘sleeping over’ when they were really disobeying his requests to stay put while the adults took care of things.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn didn’t look so good when she came out of the bathroom. She had changed into the clean t-shirt and slipped the trousers on again, while her curls were untamed still and she wrangled them into a hair tie as best as she could, though some sprung free and framed her pale face.<br/>
“I need coffee.” She grumbled, holding Hopper’s arm as she brushed by him to find her shoes.<br/>
“We’ll get some.” He promised gently, placing the phone back in the cradle and helping her to stand up again. “And some proper food – nicer food.” Their dinner last night had been one of the worst things he had ever eaten, but it was food and it had quelled the pangs of hunger in his stomach.</p><p> </p><p>Back on the road, he found a café before they pulled onto the highway. He got coffee, fresh bagels with bacon and egg, and picked up a box of doughnuts, too. Evelyn was slouched in the car, reality just a tiny bit fuzzy from taking pills on an empty stomach. Her pain, however, had subsided. Now she only felt the aches when she moved and for most of the short drive so far, she had simply rested her forehead against the cool glass of the passenger window. The engine rumbled through her skull, but she didn’t mind it so much, pretending it was some new, modern massage that might be offered in the city. The coffee and bagel perked her back up, though Hopper noticed her eyes were still lidded. He just hoped she’d be able to focus at the college and do what they came all this way to do.</p><p> </p><p>They reached University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee a little after ten o’clock. Evelyn had been alert enough to offer directions once they hit Milwaukee, and now she guided Hopper to the West Quad parking lot. She winced, breathing deeply when she climbed down from the truck. She used the warm hood as a crutch to walk around the Blazer to catch up with Hopper.<br/>
“Where now?” He asked, his brow furrowing when she slid her arm around the crook of his elbow.<br/>
“That building, there.” Evelyn pointed to a large grey building across the way. “And I’m going to need to hold onto you so that I don’t quite look like I’ve been hit by a bus.” She added, leaning into him ever so slightly.<br/>
“You in pain?” He asked quietly, looking down at her pressed to his side.<br/>
She shook her head. “No. But everything is stiff and feels heavy.”<br/>
He wished he could have let her rest for longer, but this wasn’t a vacation.<br/>
“We want the fifth floor.” Evelyn tugged Hopper in the direction of the elevator, not even entertaining the idea of the stairwell.<br/>
He pressed the button for the floor, feeling her slump against him as the metal enclosed them.<br/>
“It’s so weird being back here.” She admitted quietly, arm still looped through his. “The last time I was here I was submitting my final paper and getting ready to go and teach.” She shook her head, closing her heavy eyes. “It seems like someone else’s life.”<br/>
“Things will be normal again, I promise.” He said softly, looking above the door to see where they currently were.<br/>
“It’s not just that.”<br/>
Hopper glanced at her, wondering what secrets Evie had left in Wisconsin. He had never asked because it felt rude and invasive, but whenever she spoke of the years she was away from Hawkins there was always a hesitation, a mournful pause. She might have left him no choice in bringing her here, but he wondered now if it was a good thing she was back in her former home – and not just because she was injured.</p><p>She led him to a door on the left at the very end of the long sterile hallway. A narrow nameplate was the only way to identify that it was an office. The entire place reminded Hopper of Hawkins Lab, with mysteries behind closed doors, hallways too barren and white. The door opened shortly after she knocked and a stout, balding man in his sixties stood before them. There was already a small coffee stain on the chest of his light blue button up, and his trousers seemed a little too tight for his round belly. He wore thick lensed glasses and seemed uneasy the second he recognised Evelyn.<br/>
“Professor Schultz. It’s been a while.” She flashed a toothy smile that her old professor didn’t return.<br/>
“Miss Carter.” His icy tone was enough to freeze lava. “And who is this?” He looked up at Hopper, dark eyes narrowed.<br/>
“This is Jim Hopper and he kindly agreed to assist me in moving what I asked for.”<br/>
“Look-“<br/>
“Is there a problem?” The speed with which Evelyn cut him off left Hopper curious. She had said someone at the college owed her a favour, but there seemed to be something darker under the surface that she had omitted from that particular statement.<br/>
The professor swallowed, looked down at his too-shiny loafers and shook his head.<br/>
“This way. I have the sixth-floor research Lab B for you to use.” He pulled a set of keys from his pocket and led them around a corner to a door that had a security pad. Hopper watched the buttons as he pressed them, memorising the sequence 6-9-2-2-1-8. “And it’s only for twenty-four hours?” He seemed nervous, peering at Evelyn over his black rimmed spectacles.<br/>
“You have my word.” She promised, nodding once.<br/>
He stepped aside, allowing Evelyn to step into the supply room. She let go of Hopper’s arm, determined to stand on her own two feet – literally – for this. Through the hazy, pain induced fog and the exhaustion Evelyn wanted to be strong now. She didn’t want anyone in Milwaukee to think she <i>needed<i> Hopper. </i></i></p><p>
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    <i>She had left the city on awkward terms. Some of them she still hadn’t accepted. It had been difficult and easy, and closing that chapter of her life had felt like such a finality that coming back to Milwaukee so soon almost made her feel like she was undoing all of that; unpicking the threads of time that had closed one door and opened many others. She didn’t think anyone in Hawkins cared about where she had been, and those she had spoken to seemed content to accept that her return to the small town was because of her aging father. She’d garnered enough closure on her past that the half-truth was easy to sell as the complete truth. </i>
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    <i>Evelyn picked up a large bottle, filled with a clear liquid and held it out for Hopper to take. He didn’t recognise the chemical formula on the front, but he did recognise the warning symbols on the label; whatever he was holding was corrosive, an irritant, and not to be ingested. He looked up to see Evie grabbing another two bottles from the shelf and then struggling to bend down. He was going to help, but she seemed to manage it with a wince and a hiss – which she attempted to disguise with a quick cough. Clutching the top of the cabinet, her knuckles turned white as she pulled herself back up, a bag filled with a powdery substance clutched between her fingers. She took a deep, steadying breath and then picked up the bottles she had set down moments earlier.<br/>
“Is that everything?” Schultz asked, peering out of the door nervously.<br/>
“It is. Does the lab have all the equipment in it?” It had been a little while since Evelyn had been in this building, but she remembered that some labs were better equipped than others.<br/>
“It does.” He confirmed, now looking at his watch. “You remember where it is?”<br/>
Evelyn nodded, gesturing for him to go ahead. “Don’t let us keep you from class, professor.” Her words were sweet, airy, and obviously false.<br/>
As Schultz turned his back to go, Evelyn quickly grabbed a box from the side nearest the door and thrust it at Hopper, shielding it from sight until the professor heard the comforting click of the lock and went on his merry way.</i>
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    <i>“What is going on?” Hopper asked, letting Evie take his arm again as she readjusted the items in her hands.<br/>
“I’ll tell you later.” She mumbled, dropping her façade of strength now that it was just the two of them.<br/>
They made their way to the sixth floor, Hopper helping Evelyn carry the chemicals to Lab 2B.<br/>
It was smaller than he expected, but it was still enough to make his stomach lurch as his brain filled with best forgotten memories of Hawkins Lab.<br/>
Evelyn moved to the back of the room, away from the door and closer to a shaded window. She sat down at the bench there, sighing in relief. It felt good to not have to stand anymore, even if this would only be a short reprieve for her aching, overworked legs.<br/>
“How can I help?” Hopper asked, hating the idea of standing around while she did the work – especially since she was in so much discomfort.<br/>
“There should be beakers and Petri dishes in that cupboard by your knee. Get me three of each – no, make it four.” A last-minute idea sprung to mind, and Evelyn pushed herself back to her wobbly feet., stretching up to the shelves over the cabinets and plucking down a box of gloves and an assortment of one-use instruments Hopper barely recognised.<br/>
He put the requested items in front of her and leaned back, watching as she bent down to get the bag they had come with. He’d almost forgotten that the jar of slime was buried amongst the medical supplies.<br/>
“It wasn’t that full before.” He stated firmly, the jar now disturbingly three-quarters full.<br/>
“It must use some kind of binary fission.” Evelyn concluded, pulling a latex glove over her healthy hand before she unscrewed the lid.<br/>
“Is that as bad as I think it sounds?”<br/>
She shook her head, then shrugged. “It’s how bacteria grow. One cell duplicates itself to become two, two become four and so on.”<br/>
“So this could be spreading all over Hawkins this way?”<br/>
She hesitated, biting her lip as she began measuring out liquids into beakers. “It would take some time, in theory. This just looks like a lot because it’s packed into a small, controlled space.<br/>
“You’re not making me feel any better.”<br/>
She held out the beaker she had just poured the clear liquid into and nodded towards the white powder in the sealed bag. “One scoop, then two, then four, then eight.” She slid a pair of gloves and a long-handed metal scoop across to Hopper, turning her own focus back to the distribution of liquids.<br/>
“What is this?” He asked, snapping the gloves over his hands and unzipping the sealed bag.<br/>
She looked up at him, green eyes full of focus. “Carbamide.”<br/>
“And what does it do?”<br/>
“Hopefully, it will kill off this slime mold. Or at the very least slow it down.”<br/>
He followed her instructions carefully, sliding them back to her in order, at which point Evelyn began to label each solution and assigned it to a corresponding Petri dish. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>She extracted a small amount of slime mold from the jar, confining it with the petri dish, keeping each one as consistently equal as possible as she filled them all. Hopper watched her, completely clueless as to what she was doing or why she did things in a certain order. He didn’t know what carbamide was, or what the yellow tinged solution she dripped into each dish was for. He could have asked, but he knew that any answers would sound like they were spoken in a foreign language. Hopper trusted Evie. He knew that whatever she was mixing together, trying to create, he knew it was being done right.<br/>
“This, uh, this seems a little more advanced that high school chemistry.” Hopper remarked, trying to understand the shorthand scrawl she was scribbling across label tags.<br/>
“Well, I wasn’t always going to be a high school teacher.” Evelyn told him, chuckling softly at the idea.<br/>
“You weren’t?”<br/>
She shook her head. Evelyn put her pen down and screwed the lid back on the mason jar of slime mold. “I listened to the wrong person. Thought they knew best.” She lifted her gaze to meet Hopper’s. “Thankfully, it turned out that I quite like teaching.”</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Hopper thought it strange that Evie would take that sort of advice from anyone. She was so sure in her convictions usually, even if they irritated the hell out of him sometimes. Then again, everything about this place was strange. There was obviously something more going on in Milwaukee than Evie had ever let onto.</i>
  </i>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Not a lot happens here, I know - but it needed to be set up for some upcoming chapters.<br/>&lt;33</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Smothered Dreams</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>
    <b>Milkwaukee, November, 1975</b>
  </i>
</p><p>The bitter chill of winter nipped at Evelyn’s nose as she moved quickly down the street, chunky heels clicking against the concrete sidewalk. The heat of the bar swirled around her as she pulled the door open, the sound of music and chatter escaping into the evening air. She pulled the soft knit fabric from around her neck, pushing herself up onto her toes to scour the crowd for her friends. She ought to have known they’d be in their usual spot; for as long as they’d been coming here they had always snatched up the corner booth, right at the back of the bar. It was secluded, dimly lit compared to the rest, and spacious enough that the six of them could squeeze in there without quite sitting on each other.</p><p>“Ah, there she is! My little teacher to be!” Michael ‘Mickey’ James stretched his arm over Evelyn’s narrow shoulders, guiding her to the slim space at his side. Mickey only ever smoked in the company of others, and so a cigarette stuck to his lips as Evelyn pressed hers to his cheek. “Did Schultz help you?”<br/>
“Yeah. He thought it was a great idea, too.” She had been nervous going to tell her professor about her career path change, but he said it was a welcome decision and that he thought she would be much better suited to a world of education rather than chemistry. In fact, it had startled her slightly just how helpful the professor had been when he was renowned for not really caring where his students ended up. Schultz handpicked those he wanted for special research ventures, but the rest of his class may as well have been invisible.<br/>
“I told you, didn’t I? Stick with me, doll, and I’ll make sure you stay right.” He kept his arm around her shoulders, keeping her close, but remaining oblivious to her slight struggle in removing the heavy coat she was now much too warm for.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn had been dating Mickey for almost a year. Her friends had set them up, encouraging Evelyn that he would be good for her. Josephine and Annie were her best friends, had been since that first year of college. They had helped her navigate the city, guiding her when things had been too overwhelming. As excited as she had been to leave Hawkins, life in Milwaukee wasn’t quite the thrilling, life affirming adventure she had expected as a naïve eighteen-year-old.<br/>
People in the city were much less friendly. If she was lost no one was willing to stop and give her directions. She usually had to go into a coffee shop or pester enough people at the crosswalk. Even then, people huffed and rolled their eyes if she wasn’t familiar with the street names or historic landmarks.<br/>
There were less bright lights and more grey buildings. And the noise at night was disturbing. Evelyn wasn’t used to hearing sirens in the darkness or even hearing voices on the street. Her quiet life had taught her that noises outside were a sign of trouble, and she was halfway through her sophomore year of college before she managed to sleep peacefully through the night.</p><p> </p><p>It was around that time that Annie told her Mickey was interested. He was a science major, too, and best friends with Annie’s boyfriend Hank. Both of them played for the college basketball team, and to date a UWM Panther was like a badge of honour to some of the girls at the school. Evelyn had never really cared so much, a little afraid of the brashness of some of the guys she had encountered during college. They were forward, always seemed to be mocking someone for something, and she was surprised how few of them seemed seriously committed to learning. Annie had told her it was because they were supposed to be having fun, enjoying the freedom from their parents and the rules of home. Evelyn wanted that, too, but she also wanted to graduate proud of the hard work she had put in. There weren’t too many female students majoring in applied science and they were looked down upon by far too many of their peers. If it came down to a party the week before finals or a night in the library, then Evelyn wanted to choose the latter. She also wanted to be able to make that choice without her friends and boyfriend giving her grief for it.</p><p> </p><p>There was a lot more peer pressure in college than Evelyn had ever experienced at Hawkins High. And she had thought a small town was the worst place for that sort of thing. Your reputation was something everyone knew about, and people were quick to make judgements based on the tiniest of insignificant choices. In the city there was more pressure on being a certain way, following the same path as everyone else. The people Evelyn hung around with spoke about their fossil-like parents who were stuck in routines that had been around since the Second World War. They griped about politics and music, believing decomposed philosophers were the way of the future and that the pungent earthy smoke that dominated most Friday nights was also going to pave the way to success and lifelong happiness.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn had been filled with nervous confidence when she went to college. She had this naïve idea of what her life ought to become now she had escaped Hawkins and very quickly that idea was crushed to dust. Annie and Josephine had been on the same floor as her in the dorms, and very quickly decided to take the small-town scientist under their wing. Everything about Evelyn had been labelled as cute, but they said it in a way that reminded Evelyn of her grandmother telling her a crayon drawing on crumpled paper was a masterpiece.<br/>
She didn’t know any better. She didn’t understand the subtle smiles between other students, or the way they pressured her just a little more than they did someone else. It was only now that she started to feel like they were trying to strip her of who she was, erase Hawkins from her identity and make her into a city girl.</p><p>For a while, Evelyn had wanted that. It felt sophisticated to live far from home, felt good to be doing something for herself. She had a part-time job at a local café where she worked before and after class some days. She spent time with her friends and Mickey, but they always wanted more from her. She had thought they had a good relationship now; the same group that would grow old together, raise their kids together. They wouldn’t be like their parents and life would be this great, unknown adventure as they hurtled towards the promise of a new decade.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, let me out, doll.” Mickey distracted her from her thoughts and Evelyn glanced across at her smirking boyfriend. “She’s visiting Wonderland again.” He teased, gently pushing her so she’d stand up and let him slide out of the booth.<br/>
“Get one for Eve, too.” Annie called after Hank, who only responded with a thumbs up. “She looks like she needs a drink.” Annie was supermodel gorgeous, but she had a short temper and too much of daddy’s money. It meant she thought everything ought to go her way.<br/>
“What’s he getting?” Evelyn asked, watching the two guys make their way to the bar.<br/>
“Tequila Sunrises.” Annie smiled as Josephine joined them on the same side of the booth.<br/>
“Do you feel better now you’re not doomed for a life of white coats and smelly potion bottles?” Josephine asked in her soft mid-western drawl.<br/>
“I’m still not sure this is the right choice.” Evelyn admitted, rubbing her palms against the skirt of her burgundy pinafore.<br/>
“Come <i>on</i> Eve! Didn’t Mickey tell you that it would be nearly impossible to get a spot on one of the college research teams?”<br/>
“He did.”<br/>
“And you’d just end up being the coffee girl for men who think they’re better than us.” Josephine added, smiling warmly still, despite Evelyn’s uncertainty.<br/>
“I know, it’s just…how are we supposed to change the world if we don’t push for it?”<br/>
“Oh, my darling Eve, we make the world beautiful. That’s how we change it.” Annie said, looping her arm around Evelyn’s shoulders. She was an Art major and everything about her had to be beautiful or she couldn’t stand it.<br/>
“You’ve made the right choice.” Josephine assured her. “Who knows? Maybe you and I will end up in the same school! Now wouldn’t that be fun?!”<br/>
Evelyn managed a small smile, but there was something trapped in the darkest recesses of her mind that was screaming, telling her that this was a grave mistake.</p><p> </p><p>The guys returned with the drinks, Annie and Josephine sliding back to their original seats just as Hank placed the drinks tray on the sticky table.<br/>
Mickey lit up another cigarette and slipped his arm back around Evelyn’s shoulders, watching her closely as she took a tentative sip of the new cocktail. She crinkled her nose up, gagging on the taste as her eyes filled. Her friends laughed and she coughed hard, her throat burning.<br/>
“That is strong.” She wheezed, pushing the glass away only for Mickey to push it back.<br/>
“We’re celebrating your future, baby doll.”<br/>
“I have an exam tomorrow morning.”<br/>
“None of that matters now – you don’t need to ace every class.” Mickey pressed his forehead to hers. “High schoolers don’t need to know the key advantages of nanomaterials for biomedical applications.” He chuckled, pushing his lips against hers. “Let me take care of my girl. You don’t need to worry about a thing if you stick with me.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <i>

    
        <b>Milkwaukee, March, 1985</b>
      </i>


</p><p>
Evelyn left her experiment and turned to the box she had hidden from Schultz. Hopper was expecting something dangerous, but he caught himself looking twice when she instead forced it into the small bag beside the mason jar.<br/>
“What?”<br/>
“Turn a blind eye, Chief.” She instructed, face red with embarrassment. “Hawkins High is lacking safety goggles. The ones we have are scratched and ruined. Can’t see anything through them.”<br/>
He blinked, shaking his head. “Let me see if I’ve got this right. We came here to find a way to stop the slime and you’re stealing supplies for your chemistry class?”<br/>
“Yeah. This place orders them in bulk, they’ll simply think they overlooked them on the last order.” Evelyn brushed the loose curls from her eyes and spun back around on the stool.<br/>
“Hey, I’m way outside my jurisdiction.” Hopper looked around, eyeing the disposable supplies on a high shelf. “Need anything else outside of the school budget? These maybe?” He plucked a pipet from a damaged box and raised his eyebrows at Evelyn.<br/>
“Because high schoolers need what they think are tiny water guns.” She smirked, rolling her eyes. “I just want to avoid a student setting himself on fire because he can’t see the Bunsen burner through the scratchy fog.”
</p><p>
The creak of a door opening interrupted them. Hopper saw the smile drop instantly from Evie’s face.<br/>
“Baby doll – a little birdie told me you had come back.”
 
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It makes me feel unclean to write Mickey - ick. </p><p>Let me know if you like these little flashbacks. I have ideas for a few more to sort of fill in Evie's story of how she came back home. </p><p>&lt;33</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. A Different Kind of Ache</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This gets NSFW towards the end</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What’s it been, doll? Two years?” The man walked across the room with open arms, a smug smile on his smooth face.<br/>“I’m not your doll, Mickey.” Evelyn warned, discreetly moving the notes of her experiment under the bag.<br/>Mickey sighed, arms falling to his side as he continued to stalk towards Evelyn, still sporting that arrogant look.<br/>“Don’t be like that, Eve.”<br/>Evelyn wanted to face him standing upright, but she feared her legs wouldn’t be quite so willing. Her limbs were still heavy - and it took far too much of the little energy she had to move even the tiniest bit. She didn’t - <i>couldn’t</i> let Mickey see her in this weakened state.<br/>“And who’s your friend?” Mickey turned to look at Hopper, and something in his expression changed. He eyed the Chief of Police up like a lion might eye up a threat to the pride.<br/>“Jim Hopper. Chief of Police in Hawkins.” Hopper answered for himself, prickling with dislike for this man. He didn’t know who this ‘Mickey’ was, but his smarmy entrance had won him no points.<br/>“Is that like, making sure little old ladies haven’t misplaced their purses in their own homes?” Mickey sneered, leaning his fists on the lab desk near Evelyn.<br/>“And making sure arrogant bastards know their place.”</p><p>Evelyn felt invisible sitting between the two men. They were glowering at one another over the top of her head, and it reminded her of a wildlife documentary where two wolves circled each other before they attacked. She let her gaze drift between the two, wondering where it would go if she kept quiet. Alas, she had told herself she wouldn’t be that woman anymore; she wouldn’t be silenced in a corner while the men talked.</p><p>“Can we help you with something, Mickey?”<br/>There was a moment where all Mickey did was glare at Hopper instead of answering Evelyn. When he did choose to speak, he looked down at her with that old smirk that used to get under her skin. Now, all it did was send a shudder down her spine. She was almost repulsed at herself for ever thinking this slimy bastard was attractive.<br/>“I just thought I’d come and say hello, doll. Figured it’d be rude not to.”<br/>“Funny. I didn’t think anyone knew we were here.” Hopper moved around the desk to stand behind Evelyn. She could feel his body heat he stood that close to her.<br/>“I work very closely with Professor Schultz. When he was late for his class this morning, I knew something was going on.” Mickey turned his attention to Evelyn, reaching out to brush the back of her hand with his knuckles. “He recalled our past.”<br/>“And conveniently forgot that I made a pretty public announcement about never seeing you again?”<br/>Mickey chuckled, knocking on the edge of the counter before meeting Evelyn’s dark gaze. “There’s that fire I remember. I gotta say, doll, I wish you shown that a little more when we were together.”<br/>“I wish I’d shown you a lot more when we were together – like what a bottle to the face feels like.”<br/>“That’s cute, doll.” Mickey didn’t take her threat seriously at all. He had never taken anything she said or did seriously. For that, Evelyn hated herself as much as she hated him.<br/>“Her name is Evelyn.” Hopper snarled, stepping around the stool she was perched on to loom over Mickey.</p><p>Mickey, a few inches shorter than Hopper, put on this air of bravado. Evelyn had seen it before, but usually there was a sidekick behind him, someone to jump into the fire if it got too hot. Right now, he was alone, and between blinks, for a flicker of a moment, she saw that confidence waver. Hopper was intimidating, large in every way, and Mickey had always been wiry – fast, but wiry. He might be able to duck a punch, but he could never throw a well landed one. </p><p>“You defending her honour, Jim Hopper, Chief of Police in Hawkins?” Mickey sneered, squaring up to Hopper in a move Evelyn felt was more foolish than brave. “Go back to your neighbourhood watch, old man.”<br/>“Old man, huh? I was in combat when you still wet the bed.”<br/>“That doesn’t really help your argument, Hop.” Evelyn mumbled, turning her head and scratching her face to conceal her quiet words. She was suddenly very aware - for what felt like the first time - of the thirteen years between herself and Hopper.<br/>“You can’t even keep your girl safe.” Mickey grabbed Evelyn’s bandaged hand, his thumb pressing against the slice on her palm making her wince before she yanked it back. “I never had that problem.”<br/>“Only because you never stepped foot in a kitchen unless it was to get a beer.” She spat back, holding her pulsing hand to her chest and wishing she could hit him with it. <br/>Mickey looked at her as though he was once against realising that she was capable of speech. His eyes were widened, blinking down at her. “Being a bitch doesn’t suit your pretty face, Eve, baby.”<br/>“Call her a bitch again.” Hopper pushed his way in front of Evelyn, his formidable size making it impossible to see Mickey unless she leaned over.<br/>Part of Evelyn wanted to step between them, to stop a fight before it happened. Another, slightly larger part, wanted to watch Hopper send Mickey to the floor, preferably in pain and bleeding. A third, final part wanted to do that herself.</p><p>Any potential hostilities were interrupted when the door to the small lab opened again.<br/>“Mr James. I thought I instructed you to supervise the experiments upstairs.”<br/>The man in the doorway was tall and thin with gaunt features. His sunken grey eyes never moved to Hopper or Evelyn but remained focused on Mickey.<br/>“Yes, sir. I just wanted to see if Eve here needed anything.”<br/>“Upstairs. Now.” His tone demanded obedience and Mickey reluctantly moved away from the lab bench. <br/>“I’ll see you around, doll.”<br/>The stranger waited for Mickey to leave, closing the door after him.</p><p>“I could have sworn I recognised him.” Hopper said, brows low as he tried to place the striking face.<br/>“He’s not a professor I know.” Evelyn started gathering her things up, easing herself up from the stool. “But we’re in a research college. All kinds of people work here without being connected to the teaching.”<br/>“You mean like ‘Mickey’?” Hopper turned back to her, his eyebrows raised now.<br/>“The less said about him the better.”<br/>“Another not so good choice?” He probed, helping her carefully move the petri dishes to the side bench. <br/>She nodded, humming her answer as she gently arranged the dishes and the beakers before stepping away. “These need at least twelve hours.”<br/>“Wait, what?” Hopper spun on his heel, shaking his head at her. “You never said anything about that.”<br/>“Well, Hopper, Science takes time.” She argued wearily, pressing her palm against her warm forehead. “Ideally, it would be more like seventy-two hours, but I know that’s not going to work for you.”<br/>“Twelve hours doesn’t work for me.” <br/>She sighed, looking up at him through tired eyes. “If I don’t give it a reasonable amount of time for a reaction to happen then I won’t know what concentration of the solution we’ll need to stop it spreading in Hawkins.”<br/>Hopper scowled, glancing out of the window before nodding in defeat. “Fine. So what now?”<br/>“Now? Now we get out of this place.” </p><p> </p><p>Across the quad, Evelyn and Hopper climbed back into the Blazer after she gave him directions to an inexpensive hotel in her old neighbourhood.<br/>“Will it be safe in there? From that asshole, I mean.”<br/>Evelyn nodded her head, her body aching even more now that she had moved again. “Schultz won’t let anyone else in there. I left a message for him when we left and he always checks after every class for them.”<br/>“What is with you and him?” Hopper reversed out of the parking space and navigated them back onto the busy city streets.<br/>“His wife was terminally ill – cancer – back when I was a senior here. Everyone felt so sorry for him, thought he was incredible because he came into the college, taught his classes and helped his students, all the while paying for everything his wife could want or need in her final days.” She grunted when the truck hit a pothole. “Anyway, he used to have office hours on a Friday evening, but obviously no one wanted to go to them because it was Friday night. One time, however, I needed an extension on his paper; I’d had the flu and barely knew my own name, let alone stoichiometry.”<br/>“Please tell me you didn’t screw the professor.”<br/>“No! Of course not!” She glared across at him, wishing she had the energy to reach out and slap him for that implication. “But someone else did. The door wasn’t completely closed so I knocked once and just swung the thing open. And there was Susan Naylor, spread out on his desk like an all you can eat buffet.”<br/>“All this while his wife was dying?”<br/>“Yup. And that was the only reason why I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to cause her any more suffering in those last days. But Schultz basically promised me anything and I agreed to one day hold him to that. At the time I thought I might use that favour to get onto one of the research projects but then things changed.”<br/>“What things?”<br/>“I didn’t want to work on them anymore. I liked teaching and knowing Mickey would be around was pretty much the ultimate turn off.”<br/>“When did his wife die?” Hopper couldn’t help thinking of Sara and her lost battle against the leukaemia. It took all he had to stay focused on the hectic streets in front of him.<br/>“About two weeks later.” <br/>“And Schultz kept his promise all these years later? Why?”<br/>“Because reputation is a huge thing. If people knew he’d been fucking students when his wife was gravely sick do you think he’d get any kind of support? Research grants could be pulled on that alone, and it would always hang over his head.”<br/>“So if you told anyone now-“<br/>“He’d still be ruined – all it takes is a little rumour and college kids are quick to talk.” That was why Evelyn had so much faith in Schultz keeping his word. She had told him on the phone that she needed complete privacy, that her experiment was to be locked away overnight, and that she’d need to take a few supplies afterwards. He hadn’t been the least bit happy about any of it, but the risk of denying Evelyn was too great.</p><p> </p><p>The hotel had a double room available when Hopper asked. Evie said she didn’t want to be on her own and he was glad; he didn’t feel comfortable leaving her when she was still hurt. The furnishings were minimal, and the décor was from ten years ago, but a bed was a bed. <br/>And a bath was a bath, Hopper supposed as he heard Evie’s squeal of delight in the bathroom. <br/>“A hot soak is exactly what I need.” She told him, grabbing one of the towels from the end of the bed he assumed she had claimed for herself, since her coat was tossed on it.<br/>“I’ll get us something to eat. What do you want?” <br/>“There is a pizza place halfway up the block – just turn right from the door and go straight. You can’t miss it – Morello’s.”<br/>“What do you want on it?”<br/>“Pepperoni. Deep pan.” She disappeared around the bathroom door again and Hopper heard the water running almost immediately.<br/>He grabbed the key to the room and his coat, checking the door locked behind him.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn lowered herself into the hot water, arms shaking slightly as she balanced her weight on them. She sunk up to her neck, sighing contently as the heat began to ease her aching muscles almost immediately. She kept the scar ridden arm out of the water, leaning it on the edge of the tub. Unbandaged again, her wounds looked angry, but the good kind of angry; the kind of anger that inspired someone, made them determined. In this case, it was her body determined to heal itself after the Demogorgon attack. Her bruises were still dark, purple and blue blotches across her limbs, but they too would heal with time. Evelyn did her best not to focus too much on her arm. The thought of the scarring was more upsetting than she’d like to admit. </p><p>She wasn’t a vain person. She enjoyed make-up and fashion, but she didn’t hide behind it like some people did. And she had a scar on her leg from the car crash six years ago; a jagged crack along the outside of her left knee. There was a difference between that and what would become of her arm when it healed. A scarred knee was something too many people could probably boast, but her arm was going to be the sort of thing people stared at even when they tried not to. If there was some story she could tell, then that might have helped but what on earth could she say to people if they asked? No household accident could have caused this like she had suggested to Mickey.</p><p>She slipped her hand over her stomach to her thighs, massaging the ache just under her hip. She needed to press hard to get any kind of relief and a rebellious part of her brain suddenly asked what Hopper’s large hands would feel like rubbing that same spot. Evelyn’s eyes snapped open at the idea. She thought of his rough fingers pressing into her flesh, working at the kinks in her muscles. Her hand slipped down over the scrapes of her inner thigh and she caught herself right before she slid her index finger over her folds. </p><p>She couldn’t.</p><p>Could she?</p><p> </p><p>Her body fought against her rationale. She ached in a different way now, memories of Hopper touching her the night before flooding through her mind. His hands had been hot against her cool skin, and it had left her wanting more even as she drifted off to sleep talking about long, sticky summers. He had invaded those thoughts too as she wondered what a hot summer night would be like with him. Evelyn’s fingers brushed her centre, her hips rolling in response under the water. She pressed the pad of her thumb against her clit, rolling it gently as her eyes fluttered closed.</p><p>She shouldn’t be doing this.</p><p>She shouldn’t be imagining Hopper’s hands on her, his fingers replacing her own. She was still mad at him, humiliated, and yet she wished it was him touching her so badly. She slipped a finger into her slick cunt, sliding down in the water to get a better angle. Whispered moans fell from her lips and she added another finger, twisting them in and out of her hot centre. Hopper was delving between her thighs, his breath as hot as the water as it washed over her. His tongue would be her thumb, rubbing lightly against her sensitive clit, making her hips buck. The water was starting to spill over the edges of the tub as Evelyn increased her ministrations, burying her fingers inside herself, curving them ever so slightly so they hit that perfect spot. Her hand outside of the tub reached for her breast, pinching the pebbled nipple and rolling it between thumb and index finger, sending a wave of pleasure to the lowest part of her belly. She gasped and moaned, fucking herself faster on her fingers as she imagined Hopper coaxing her over the edge with whispered commands and hot, wet kisses. </p><p>When she came, the stars behind her eyelids were joined by a sudden cramp in her left leg. She rode out her orgasm, making a wet mess of the bathroom in the process, with more water spilling from the tub. <br/>“Fuck!” It was a cry of pleasure and pain. The cramp in her hip, the racing of her heart, the relief of release and, in what she considered a stupid move, she had slapped her mauled arm against the tub’s edge.</p><p>“Evie? You okay?”<br/>Shit, Hopper was back, and she had just came hard thinking about him. Had she cried out his name like she imagined she would? <br/>Heat flushed through her cheeks, and breathlessly she tried to erase all of those deliciously wicked thoughts of him.<br/>“Uh, yeah, I just, uh, hit my arm on the tub.”<br/>She ran a wet hand over her face, breathing coming back under control now. Evelyn couldn’t believe she had just done that. Touching herself was one thing but touching herself thinking about Hopper was quite another. Surely it was just because of last night, because no one had touched her quite like that in a very long time. She was taking an innocent gesture and perverting it. </p><p>Cleaning herself off, she noticed she felt much more awake now. Some of her aches had eased too, which made her recall a very new publication about the female orgasm and its role in pain relief. Maybe there was something to that, after all. The thought caused another hot flush to her face, her mind reminding her that she had just masturbated to Jim Hopper. </p><p> </p><p>Evelyn tried to think of banal things as she rinsed the soap from her skin. She thought of laundry detergent, of the change in her purse, of buying shampoo when things were back to normal…<br/>After spending a little longer thinking of the most boring shopping list, Evelyn felt much more in control of herself, and at that point she carefully moved herself from the tub and wrapped the white, fluffy towel around herself. Now that she had moved, some parts were stiff again, a slightly lesser ache than before though.<br/>“Pizza’s gonna be cold!”<br/>Evelyn rolled her eyes, drying herself off a little quicker than she usually would. With her hair still wet she wrapped it up in the damp towel and moved back into the room, once again dressed in Joyce’s borrowed clothes.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Hopper she felt herself blush again, but forced herself to sit opposite him at the table.<br/>“Feel better?” he asked, opening the pizza box.<br/>“Yeah.” She said, hoping he didn’t see her cheeks darken as her mind whispered to her.<br/><i>Only because you imagined him making you feel better…</i><br/>She picked a slice of pizza for herself and took a small bite, nostalgia filling her senses.<br/>“I used to get pizza from here every Saturday.” She told Hop, smiling around the gooey cheese.<br/>“Miss it?”<br/>She thought carefully for a moment, finishing what was in her mouth. “It might be one of three things I miss from Milwaukee, yeah.”<br/>“I’m assuming Mickey isn’t one of the other two?”<br/>Evelyn felt her body tightening. Mickey had been such a large part of her life in Milwaukee that forgetting him was impossible – as much as she wished she could sometimes. She also knew that Hopper had been unknowingly dragged into her past. But she hadn’t known Mickey would show up! She couldn’t have warned him!<br/>“I never should have left Hawkins.”</p><p>And then, she told Hopper her story.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for all the love so far on this fic! &lt;3<br/>I'm loving every minute of writing this, and I'm so glad it's ended up longer than I originally envisioned.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Don't Look Back in Anger</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>
    <b>Milwaukee, May 1979</b>
  </i>
</p><p>Evelyn struggled down the hallway with the bag of groceries. Normally it wasn’t something she had to think about, but this was week three on crutches and everything had turned out to be far more difficult that she had anticipated. Her hands hurt from using the walking aids, and her shoulders weren’t used to what was essentially a non-stop workout. For years, Evelyn had been a runner. She ran laps around her local park on the weekends, determined to look after her body. She had started it with Annie and Josephine, but they’d lasted until the weather turned cool and then decided it wasn’t worth it. Now they joked that Evelyn could spend her Saturday mornings getting brunch with them, since her busted knee wasn’t even good to walk on, let alone run.</p><p>As she unlocked the door to her apartment, she heard noises coming from her living room. Mickey’s familiar voice carried down the short, narrow hall, along with the sounds of the television Evelyn barely had time to watch.<br/>“Doll, you home?”<br/>“Yeah, what are you doing here?” She winced as she placed the paper bag on the kitchen counter. <br/>“Well, Hank is doing some anniversary bullshit for Annie, so he wanted me out.” Mickey was still sitting on her couch, his eyes glued to the television screen.<br/>“If I’d known that you could have helped me with the groceries.”<br/>“Aw, doll, you know I don’t do any of that.” She heard the pop and hiss of a beer can opening. “If I did what would you and the girls do, huh?”<br/>Evelyn paused, hand pressing a little too hard on the fresh fruit she had just placed in the green mosaic bowl.<br/>“Yeah, but usually I don’t have crutches and a busted knee.”<br/>“Are you still going on about that? The car crash was weeks ago.”</p><p> </p><p>It might have been weeks ago, but Evelyn was still dreaming about it every other night. The group were coming back from Chicago, from a concert there, when Mickey had taken his eyes off the road. She remembered it too vividly to ever forget. She had been sitting in the back of the van with Josephine, who was making out with her new boyfriend. Annie was hooked over the front seat, holding onto Hank as he played air guitar to The Rolling Stones. Mickey had wanted Evelyn to come up front, to swap places with Hank. She hadn’t wanted to, feeling tired and knowing he was only going to light up and then try to coax her into acting as bold as the other girls. But Evelyn was tired. It had been a long weekend and she had a new class on Monday morning. Being a substitute teacher was a constant pattern of hellos and goodbyes, learning names and forgetting them again. It wasn’t exactly what she had dreamt of when her friends convinced her to become a teacher. Mickey was trying to talk her into climbing over the console to take Hank’s seat, Annie was siding with him, too, wanting her boyfriend to be in the back so she could start the foreplay that would carry on through the night.</p><p>Mickey had glanced back, hand reaching for Evelyn.<br/>“Come on, doll, don’t be such a square. I know you like it.”<br/>“I’m not in the mood.” Evelyn argued, knowing it wouldn’t win.<br/>He looked back again, his focus completely off the long stretch of road in front of them.<br/>“I didn’t agree to drive us all the way to Chicago and back for you to ‘not be in the mood’ all weekend. You need to-“<br/>That was when the van veered off the road, tyres slipped into a narrow ditch and tipping the vehicle onto its side. It happened too fast to counter, screams and cursing all Evelyn could recognise as they crashed.</p><p> </p><p>Three weeks later and she was on crutches with bruised ribs and knee damage so bad she had been told there would be intensive physiotherapy needed. The others had come away with bruises and cuts, and Josephine had a broken arm, but for some reason no one cared at all about the accident now. They all acted like it was no big thing, like they had walked away from it scratch free. Any time Evelyn brought it up she was just looking for trouble, trying to start a fight or throw a pity party for herself. Her knee wasn’t that bad, they insisted when they saw her on the crutches. </p><p>She had tried to walk without them, but her knee buckled instantly. She knew the damage that had been done, and Mickey had been in the same anatomy and biology classes as her, so she knew he was more than aware of the severity of her injuries. He hadn’t even apologised for the crash or offered to help her out with anything while she recovered.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, doll, what are you cooking tonight?”<br/>“Nothing.”<br/>“What?”<br/>“I got something on the way home. I didn’t know you’d be here.” She put the bag of macaroni into the cupboard and hobbled through to the living room.<br/>“Can you not make me something?”<br/>She looked at her boyfriend, glaring at the back of his head. “No, I can’t. I have a dozen essays to grade and a new timetable to look over.”<br/>Mickey finally pulled his attention from the TV, looking at Evelyn in disbelief.<br/>“I’ve been working all day, doll.”<br/>“Well, so have I.”<br/>“Oh please, you’re a glorified babysitter.” Mickey had always made light of her career despite being the one to push her into teaching in the first place.<br/>“Get out. I’m not in the mood for this tonight.” She had pain medication to take, too many essays on acidic solutions to grade, and she wanted to wash her hair.<br/>“Where am I supposed to go?”<br/>“The bar, the campus – I don’t know!” Evelyn struggled to her dining table, opening her purse to pull the folder of essays out. “Just go.”<br/>Mickey stood up, walking close enough to Evelyn that she could smell the beer on his breath.<br/>“You’ll regret this, doll.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <i>
    <b>Present Day, 1985</b>
  </i>
</p><p>“He’s an asshole.” Hopper was holding Evelyn’s arm, gently wrapping the bandage over her healing wounds.<br/>“Well I know that now.” Evelyn wasn’t getting any pleasure from telling Hopper about her past. If anything, it only served to embarrass her more.<br/>“He never – you know – hit you, did he?” Hopper seemed hesitant in asking the question, but she noticed the concern in his eyes. They were fixed on hers, the hand wrapping her arm stilled.<br/>“No. Never.” She saw the relief spread through him as he went back to playing doctor. “Mickey was manipulative, and sexist, but he never physically hurt me in any way – not unless you count crashing the van.” <br/>Even though she was ashamed of the choices she had made in her past, Evelyn was confident that violence was one thing she would never have abided. Her brothers had always told her to fight back against the bullies, and long after they were gone that had been the one bit of advice that had remained. In her naïve college days though, she hadn’t realised bullies didn’t always need to throw punches or call people names.</p><p>“Why did you stay with him?” Hopper couldn’t help but ask. None of this made any sense to him. Evie was attractive, young, and smart. In his mind she could have her pick of any guy out there.<br/>“Because I thought the chances of doing better were slim.” She chuckled at his questioning expression and reached for one of the cans of Coke Hopper had brought with the pizza. “I had watched Josephine date a dozen guys over the years. Each one of them was crueller than the last. One guy would say she was fat – Josie was half my size, by the way – and then there was another who used her money to buy himself beer and cigarettes. It was all enough to convince me that Mickey was the best of a bad bunch.”<br/>“Really?”<br/>“Hey, I was dumb, and no one seemed to steer me away from him. Even Frank liked him.”<br/>“Well that should have been the first warning sign; Frank’s a dick.” Hopper tended to her arm gently and slowly, like he was worried moving too quickly or with too much pressure would cause her more pain. <br/>Evie laughed warmly, nodding her head in agreement. “I was in a bad place during my time in Milwaukee. I came with naïve expectations and too-big dreams. Then, Charlie died, and my mom followed him. By that point I was lost and confused, and there was a while where I was going to come home then…” She trailed off, not wanting the story to lead to tears.<br/>“Frank?”<br/>“Yeah. He told me that Hawkins had nothing for me. That my dreams would be wasted there.” Evelyn had never understood why Frank hated their hometown so much. He had been popular enough, nothing awful had ever befallen him before he left home…it was a mystery why he only spoke of Hawkins with bitter contempt. “I lost out on a summer internship with a research team – I wasn’t in the right place for it mentally and probably never should have applied – but Mickey saw the chance to talk me out of a career in chemistry.”<br/>“Why?”<br/>“Because I was a threat to him.” She cocked her head to the side, eyes rolling up to argue with her conscience. “Which I realised much later than I should have.”<br/>Hopper raised his eyebrows, his hand resting lightly on her wrist where he had just pinned the fabric in place.<br/>“I was smarter than him. If there was ever an opportunity to join the research programmes it would have gone to me before him.” She shrugged, enjoying the warmth of Hopper’s hand radiating through her arm. “I mean, theoretically, if they just took the likes of GPA into account. The people in charge could have wanted a man over a woman, or simply picked someone else entirely because of a million other preferences. The point was, removing me from that world gave him a better chance to succeed – because no way was Mickey James going to have a girlfriend more successful than he was.”<br/>Hopper picked up another slice of the cooling pizza and took a bite, looking thoughtful for a moment as he processed everything Evelyn was telling him.<br/>“He’s a jerk.”<br/>“Again, I know that now. But Frank thought the world of Mickey. He thanked him for putting me on a better path and would constantly tell me I was lucky to have a man who would support me no matter what.”<br/>“Well that obviously didn’t happen or you’d still be with him.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <i>
    <b>Milwaukee, August 1981</b>
  </i>
</p><p>Annie and Hank’s wedding was a loud, lavish affair. Evelyn expected nothing less from her best friend. The slight swell of her belly under the wedding gown was no surprise either. They were always kissing, always pulling each other into dark corners or locked rooms. Evelyn, when she had still lived with Annie and Josephine had invested in earplugs to deal with the regular midnight visits from Hank. If anything, the only surprise was that this hadn’t happened sooner.</p><p> </p><p>She was happy for her friend, who had been dreaming of this day for a very long time. She knew she was going to marry Hank when they were still in college, before Annie had dropped out in their senior year to take a job at an art gallery. They had shown her own work once, but that had been enough to convince Annie she could tell the world she was an artist. Hank didn’t seem to mind indulging her fantasies, either. He made enough working in an office doing work he never actually explained to anyone. He would just say that he worked with a lot of big numbers and made them even bigger. Evelyn would have called bullshit on it, but they had a beautiful house ready to move into in the suburbs, and they were never short of money to invest in the newest kitchen accessory or technological toy.</p><p> </p><p>“Eve! Come dance!” Annie dragged her friend onto the dance floor, spinning her bridesmaid around as she hugged her tight. “I can’t believe this has finally happened. I’m Mrs Hank Greaves, can you believe it?!”<br/>“I’m happy for you, Annie.” <br/>“You might be next.” Annie was grinning, wiggling her eyebrows at Evelyn. “It’s been six years. I’m surprised Mickey hasn’t asked you to marry him yet.<br/>“I’m in no rush.” Evelyn admitted, even though she had spent the last part of the seventies wondering when her boyfriend would ask her to be something more. Instead, she had been left feeling like most of her life was artificial. “Actually…I’ve been thinking lately that Mickey might not be the one for me.”<br/>“What?!” Annie immediately dragged her from the floor, snatching Josephine away from Benny – a man she had eloped with six months earlier after a whirlwind romance of seven weeks.</p><p>The bride led her two friends to the bathroom, locking the door behind them. With three of them in the narrow room there was no space to escape. They were in a circle, almost shoulder to shoulder, backs touching either the counter or the wall.<br/>“What’s going on?” Josephine asked, completely oblivious to the matter.<br/>“Eve thinks she should break up with Mickey.”<br/>“But he’s gorgeous!” <br/>“It’s not about that!” Evelyn insisted, wishing she hadn’t said a thing. “Look, I just think I need something different.”<br/>“Like what?”<br/>“I don’t know! I just…ugh. I don’t feel any kind of connection with him.”<br/>“You’re twenty-six. You don’t have much time left to go searching for the unknown.” Annie said matter-of-factly, hand resting on her baby bump. Four hours of marriage had made her wise beyond her years, apparently. “No man is going to want to date someone going grey and getting wrinkles. Your best days are behind you.”<br/>Evelyn’s brow furrowed and she looked at Annie with her jaw agape. “I don’t even have either of those problems.” It also wasn’t something she had ever given much thought to. She was too preoccupied with her daily life, and the new school she had been permanently teaching at for the last year.</p><p> </p><p>A few years ago, she had wanted the same things as Annie and Josephine. Evelyn had wanted the ring on her finger, the big house in the nice neighbourhood. She wanted to pick out baby names and have dinner with her neighbours. Everything had changed now, though. The new decade had lifted the veil she had been trapped beneath and Evelyn could see things clearly now – probably for the first time in five years.</p><p>She knew she wanted more than the security of a husband and a house. Her years as a substitute teacher had kept the magic of teaching trapped, but Evelyn had her own school, her own classroom, and that had introduced her to a world she had only ever toed around before. She was inspiring students, helping them make decisions that they all felt too young to be making. In her first year she had taken three failing students and passed them with a C. She had a few who would come by after class was over to ask her hypothetical questions they had argued over. One girl gave her book recommendations each week after Evelyn had been caught reading a dog-eared copy of The Shining on her lunch break. In helping her students chase more, Evelyn had realised she wanted more, too. She wanted there to be as much passion in a romantic relationship as she had with her relationship with science. She wanted someone she could talk to, not just about her work, but about the most trivial of things. If her students could get excited over movie releases and a new candy bar, then why couldn’t her boyfriend?</p><p>The truth of the matter was that Mickey wanted Evelyn to look pretty. He had liked that her grief had made her pliable, something he could shape into the object of his desires. She had shrunken into herself, become quiet and reserved, which meant she was more willing to go along with someone else’s ideas. Slowly but surely, Evelyn had come out of that dark hole and was reverting into the confident woman she had wanted to be when she first moved to the city.</p><p>“Is there someone else?” Josephine asked, her eyes wide and curious.<br/>“What? No! I wouldn’t do that – Ever!” Evelyn promised, shocked her friend could even suggest it.<br/>“Then what is it?” Annie asked.<br/>“There’s no magic.”<br/>Her answer earned her blank faces.<br/>“The attraction I had to him is gone.”<br/>“Do you like women?” Annie whispered the words like saying them too loudly would get them in trouble.<br/>“No.” Evelyn sighed, running her hand over her face. “Look, when you kiss Hank there’s something there, right? It hits you in the stomach and everything just feels right, yeah?” Annie nodded her head and Josephine mumbled in agreement. “Well, I don’t have that with Mickey.”<br/>“But that’s just one thing. You probably just need to spice things up a little.” Josephine suggested, folding her arms, careful not to crush the mint green chiffon dress that matched Evelyn’s.<br/>“Yeah. Loads of relationships lose that after a while. I’m just lucky with Hank.”<br/>Evelyn looked between her friends.<br/>“So why can’t I be lucky, too?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <i>
    <b>Present Day, 1985</b>
  </i>
</p><p>“They wanted you to stay with him? I thought they were your friends?” The pizza box was empty, the cans of Coke crushed on top of it.<br/>“Yeah, turns out they weren’t the greatest of friends.”<br/>“No shit.”<br/>Evelyn leaned back in her seat, trying to find the right words, wondering if men had similar friendships to women, where everything was shared. She wasn’t sure if the fickle camaraderie of some women was anything men would put up with. For every fickle friendship there was at least two stronger, more resolute. Evelyn had just left those ones in Hawkins, only discovering she had after she had returned home and reconnected again.<br/>“Me breaking up with Mickey went against their perfect little picture. Hank was still his best friend so there would be sides to choose-“<br/>“Why?”<br/>“Because that’s what they thought; I didn’t say it made sense.” Evelyn chewed on her lip, wondering how she could explain it. “It’s like the rebel child. The one who spray paints the church where they go on Sundays. Once it happens their parents don’t want to acknowledge it, they don’t want to be known as the ones with the bad kid.”<br/>“But that’s blood, it’s not the same.” Hopper leaned forward, elbows on the table as he tried to wrap his thoughts around Evelyn’s drawn out story. <br/>“It’s not, but I don’t know how else to explain it.” Evelyn let out a soft laugh, tipping her head back. “Look, they took a small-town girl and made her fit neatly into their big city world. At no point was that girl supposed to go her own way. Suddenly their good deed of helping the naïve little girl around the city turns into a bad idea.”<br/>“They lost the chance to say they set you up with the perfect husband.” Finally, it clicked but Hopper still felt like it was one of the most ridiculous things he had heard.<br/>“Exactly.”<br/>“So how did it end?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <i>
    <b>Milwaukee, October 1981</b>
  </i>
</p><p>Evelyn had caught Mickey in bed with another woman. He had told her he was too sick to come to the movies, so she had gone to him with soup. She had planned to break up with him after Annie’s wedding, but his mother had passed away the following week. As much as Evelyn wanted a fresh start with her life, she couldn’t bring herself to be that selfish. She knew how hard that loss was, still felt it for herself. She hadn’t wanted to be alone when her mom died, and it wasn’t something she could put another person through – even if that person had been her worst enemy.<br/>Then she had gone inside his apartment and heard the moans, the sound of skin slapping skin. She followed them to the bedroom, heart beating faster and trying to argue with her brain that it wasn’t what she already knew it was. </p><p>Soup splattered across the wall over the bed, a girl shrieked and grabbed the bedsheets, Mickey swore and grabbed his shirt.<br/>“What the <i>fuck</i>?!” Evelyn screamed, grabbing a bottle of aftershave and tossing that along the same path as the flask of soup. The room started to smell of perfumed chicken. “I thought you were sick!”<br/>“C’mon, doll, it’s not like that.”<br/>“So you weren’t just balls deep in her?”<br/>Mickey tried to reach out for Evelyn, but she batted him away. <br/>“Look, you’re so busy lately, doll, and a man has needs, y’know?” Mickey really didn’t see anything wrong with his behaviour. He sounded as though his argument was completely understandable.<br/>“You’re a pig.”<br/>“Don’t be like that, doll.”<br/>“Don’t call me that. I’m not your doll anymore.” She laughed harshly, shaking her head. “I was going to dump you, but then I felt sorry for you and thought you needed me.”<br/>“I do need you-“<br/>“Obviously not.” She gestured to the girl still naked in his bed. The poor thing looked like she didn’t know what was happening. “I don’t want to see you again, asshole.”</p><p> </p><p>It had gotten worse after Evelyn left. She had packed the things he had left at her place into a box, discovering a copy of her own research proposal from back in ’74 had been re-dated and had the name changed to Mickey’s. It had passed the first stage of the college’s approval two weeks ago.</p><p> </p><p>
  <i>
    <b>Present Day, 1985</b>
  </i>
</p><p>“No.”<br/>Evelyn adjusted the pillow beneath her head, twisting so she could face Hopper as he sat on the edge of his own bed.<br/>“Yup. He passed my work off as his own.”<br/>“What did you do?”<br/>A wicked smile graced her features and she stretched out across the bed. “I went to the college, to the very building we were in today, and I found Mickey’s little research group. I put the box on the lab bench while listing a bunch of reasons why that research proposal was bogus and a waste of money – in the seven years since I had written it, things had changed and there was now three reasons why it was wrong; the Quantum Hall Effect had just been published, the test itself was outdated and had been replaced with more accurate analysis…” She trailed off, shaking her head and remembering that Hopper was not a science fan. “They were using ethanol in the lab, so I grabbed it and doused the box in it before throwing his second favourite lighter in there – lit.” She mimicked fire with her hands, curving her fingers for the flames. “Whoosh.”</p><p>Hopper’s eyes went wide, his jaw dropping as he stared at Evie. He had seen her angry, and he had seen her passion, but he never thought she would be the type to do something like that. Even when she stole the box of safety goggles, she had done so with selfless intentions. To be reckless in a science lab seemed very out of character.</p><p>“I was pissed.” She confirmed, not needing to hear him say anything. “But the whole thing was kind of cathartic. Like, I was <i>done</i> fitting into their little ideal. I walked out of that lab that day feeling like myself for the first time in a very long time.”<br/>“Because you started a very dangerous fire?”<br/>“Because I didn’t let someone push me around. I didn’t listen to Annie telling me that it could be fixed, I didn’t care that Mickey might have wanted me back. I didn’t want him and that was the end of it.” She rolled her eyes, noticing Hop still looking at her like she had confessed to murder. “You think that was the first fire in a science lab? They’re well equipped and it was probably extinguished before I got outside.”<br/>“I’m just glad you didn’t do that to me after I missed dinner.”<br/>“You didn’t cheat.” She said pointedly. “Plus, it was just dinner. Yes, I was humiliated and pissed at you for it, but it wasn’t the same.”<br/>“Still, I am sorry. The last thing I wanted was for you to feel embarrassed.” <br/>“I know. And I’m sorry I held it against you after I knew what happened.”</p><p>The conversation had changed suddenly and the air between them was thicker – much thicker. Then Hop remembered Callahan, and the way he held Evie on the dance floor.</p><p>“So, what brought you back home?” Hopper asked, swinging his legs up onto his own bed, leaning back against the headboard.<br/>“Everything changed after that. Annie and Josephine kept trying to reel me back in. They didn’t like that I found myself and knew what I wanted. I think they were jealous in a way; I never dated anyone between the break-up and coming back to Hawkins, but I could flirt with a guy when we were out having drinks. I could dance if I wanted to, and I had a freedom they had given up.” She shrugged lightly, remembering the way they’d criticise her for talking to someone, or how they’d try to make her feel like the rest of the world was judging her for a mini skirt. “I remember I got my hair cut in ’83. It had been halfway down my back and I chopped it to my jaw in the summer. They acted like I’d just committed treason.”<br/>“Over a haircut?”<br/>“Yeah.” Evelyn laughed, sliding her trousers off under the sheets and kicking them to the floor. “It was a hot summer, and my curls are too much to deal with at the best of times. I know everyone had been digging the perms for a while, but I was born with this bird’s nest on my head and I’d just had enough.”<br/>“I like your hair.” The words were out before he could stop them, but Evelyn simply smiled at him, so he continued. “And I bet it looked good short.” What was the harm in paying a friend a compliment?<br/>“I thought so. And the kids in my school commented on it.” Evelyn absent-mindedly fingered her curls, pulling them straight and letting them spring back. “After that I knew my days in Milwaukee were over, but I didn’t know where to go. Then my dad got hurt and something inside said I should go back to Hawkins. When I found out there was a job opening at the high school it seemed like fate – and I know that sounds corny.”<br/>“I’ve heard worse.” Hopper grinned, peeling his Henley off before he too removed his trousers and stretched out in his bed.</p><p>Silence fell between them, Evelyn’s story finally told. A lot made sense to Hopper now. He understood that grief made people act less like themselves than anyone wanted to admit. He knew how easy it was to feel lost in a strange place, to be guided by the wrong people. He knew fear, and he knew anger and loss, and he felt like he knew Evie now, too. <br/>“Thanks for listening, Hop.”<br/>“No problem. Thanks for feeling like you could tell me.” He rolled onto his side, facing Evie who was still looking his way. “And, hey, you do deserve to be lucky. You deserve someone who you can have a connection with.” He hated to think it, but he hoped sincerely that Callahan could give her both of those things.<br/>“Yeah?”<br/>“Yeah.”</p><p>She smiled at him, relieved he hadn’t called her out too much on the mistakes of her past. Evelyn was ashamed of how she had let other people guide her, control her, and it wasn’t a story she had wanted to bring home. Telling Hopper though, it was just like another night in the diner, or a morning grabbing coffee; the words came easy and she felt safe talking to him. <br/>For a few short hours it had been possible to forget about monsters and alternate dimensions.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm sorry not a lot happens in this chapter, but I did work in a few subtle bits I hope you all picked up on.</p><p>Evie's past isn't done just yet, there's still a few more twists to come over the next few parts! We're not out of Milwaukee yet!</p><p> </p><p>I'm going to try to keep to daily updates, but it might become every other day. I have a RP site that needs my attention too since I'm a character whore with too many plots that have been left ignored lately!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Moving Forward, Looking Back</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Evelyn didn’t sleep very well. She was thinking about her past and letting old, boxed up memories, play over and over in her head. She thought about the day she had told Annie and Josephine that she was moving back home. They had said she was making a mistake, that returning to Hawkins would be throwing away the last twelve years of her life. All Evelyn had been able to think then was that it was exactly what she wanted to do. She wanted to erase almost everything of her time in Milwaukee. If every mistake was a lesson then the last decade had been the longest lesson anyone had ever learnt, ever. Her ‘friends’ kept trying to sway her, to pull her back into their web of suburban comfort and modern ideals. Evelyn thought about it differently. The way she saw it was that if they had to be married with children then Evelyn couldn’t be the one to go out and continue to have fun like they had once done as a group. It was jealousy, not concern.</p><p>That was why she had been tempted to call them after she moved home – to say that it was all going so well, that it was the best decision she had ever made. But as good as it might have felt to do that, it would go against her desire to turn her back on Milwaukee for good. And she didn’t need it anymore. She had her old friends – the ones she never should have lost contact with – and her new ones, like Joyce and Hopper. They made Hawkins feel like home. Hopper more than others, she was embarrassed to say. It wasn’t just because he had been friends with Joey. It was because he had taken the time to be with her, to share goofy stories that made them both feel old, and yesterday he had stood up for her with Mickey. The public humiliation was still something she’d have to confront back home, but she knew he hadn’t done it intentionally. She still wished he would have called, and she still believed that was on him, but the rage that had been there originally was just a bite of irritation now. </p><p>She watched him sleep, snoring occasionally. He said she deserved the magic, to find a connection. A large part of her wanted to climb into his bed and find out if he was the one who’d bring that spark into her life. She wanted to feel his hands on her, to press her hips into his…But Evelyn didn’t move. She stayed in her own bed, rolling away from Hopper, and she fought back her memories to try and get a few hours of sleep.</p><p> </p><p>The next morning, Evelyn woke up just before Hopper. She was dressed and ready when he came out of the bathroom, still bleary eyed and yawning. They grabbed coffee and breakfast from the hotel dining area and then made their way back to the college campus.<br/>“Park closer to the door this time.” Evelyn suggested, her mind already calculating things she hadn’t explained to Hopper yet. <br/>He complied and parked up right outside the entrance to the science building. Repeating their path from yesterday, they found themselves back outside Schultz’s office and the uncomfortable man opened the lab for them again.<br/>“You’ll be gone soon, yes?”<br/>“Before lunch.” Evelyn promised, glancing over her shoulder as she walked across the linoleum floor. “And then you’ll never see me again.”<br/>“Good.”</p><p> </p><p>Hopper watched as Evie studied the petri dishes from the day before. She exampled the cultures, making little noises every now and then that he couldn’t decipher. Her expression never gave away what she was thinking, but she meticulously checked each one again and again, finally using small slides and a heavy microscope. She stood up abruptly, fingers clutching one slide.<br/>“Got it.” She announced, rummaging in the bag for her day-old notes.<br/>“What?”<br/>“It seems obvious that the more concentrated solution bore the best result, but I had to be sure.” Her eyes scanned over the scrawled shorthand as she spoke. “There was always a chance it wouldn’t be enough, or that too much would lead to an unpredictable reaction. Not to mention we don’t exactly want to destroy any actual wildlife.” Hopper could barely keep up with her quick paced rambling, but he watched her dash across the room at a speed she couldn’t manage yesterday and drag a box trolley out from the closet there.<br/>“I’m going to go and get what we need from the storage room. You should probably meet me downstairs. We’ll have to get everything in the truck before someone decides to ask questions.” Evie had told Schultz she needed to take a few things, but she hadn’t been totally honest in that regard; she actually planned to take quite a lot.<br/>“Shouldn’t I help you?”<br/>“You’ll be helping me by waiting downstairs.” She swiped her experiment from the counter, moving everything into an empty box to take with her. She didn’t want anyone to know what she had been doing here; plus leaving slime from another dimension laying around just seemed careless. “You don’t know what we need and in the time it takes for me to tell you I could have done it all myself.”<br/>Hopper knew what she meant – he wasn’t fluent in chemical formulae – but it still hurt a little to feel useless.<br/>“I won’t be long.”</p><p> </p><p>Hopper waited downstairs, lingering somewhere between the elevator and the front door, but doing his best to remain out of sight. He imagined it would seem a little suspicious to be seen just standing around for no apparent reason. The elevator dinged and he was expecting Evie to step out, but instead he found himself face to face with Mickey.<br/>“Jim Hopper, Chief of Police. Back again?” He looked around, smirking when he didn’t see Evelyn. “Lost her already?” He tutted as he shook his head mockingly.<br/>“That’s none of your business.”<br/>“She’s my doll, of course it is.”<br/>“She hasn’t been yours for a very long time.”<br/>“Oh yeah? She tell you that?” Mickey leaned in closer, lowering his voice. “I know my Eve. I can get her back any time I want.” He spoke with arrogance, like the world ought to bow before him. <br/>“She doesn’t need to tell me anything. I saw how she looked at you.”<br/>Mickey scoffed, taking a long drag on his cigarette and blowing the smoke in Hopper’s direction. His dark brown eyes looked Hop over, judging every inch of the man. His lips twisted into a sneer as his gaze dragged over his gut, his broad chest and thick neck. When they settled on his face again, Hopper’s fiery glare did nothing to deter Mickey. He thought he was untouchable. </p><p>“You must have some stash of gold somewhere, because you sure as hell aren’t making her scream your name.”<br/>Mickey was deplorable. He has no respect for women – despite pretending that he would worship the ground they walked on – and he treated Evelyn like she was a puppet who would bend to his will.<br/>Hopper could see right through him. He knew that his Casanova routine was all an act. He had no desire to make women happy, but instead wanted something to boast about with his buddies. He would take their story and blow it out of proportion to make it about himself. He had to be the centre of attention, the hero and the victim. Hopper expected that the girl Evelyn had found in his bed was probably painted as some cheap whore throwing herself at him. Whereas he had noted the night before that Evelyn hadn’t blamed her in the slightest for the inevitable break-up. </p><p>“Whatever this is, it’s not going to work.” Hopper stepped closer, now literally looking down his nose at the arrogant, slimy bastard of a scientist. <br/>“Hey, I’m just trying to work out what she sees in you, man.” Mickey stepped back – but only so he didn’t have to crane his neck to look up at Hopper. He still wanted to push his buttons, to make him tick. “Because I offered her the world, and you offer her what? A free pass on parking tickets?”<br/>“If you wanted to stay with her then maybe you shouldn’t have been fucking other women.”<br/>“Is that what she told you?” Mickey scoffed, dragging his fingers down over his jaw. “Then she left out the part where I asked her to marry me last year.” His sneer grew when Hopper’s brow softened, his jaw slackening ever so slightly. “That’s right, I told her I should have done it years ago. Eve is the only woman I ever wanted to spend my life with.”<br/>“And I told you I’d never be stupid enough to say yes.” Neither of them had heard the elevator doors opening just behind them, but they both looked at Evelyn as she stepped out from the metal box. “All the fancy gestures in the world wouldn’t erase the fact that you’re a creep, Mickey. You’re a sexist, manipulative waste of oxygen who will likely be bald, overweight and lonely by the time you turn forty.” She smirked at him, cocking her head to the side. “C’mon, Mickey-Moo, you’re a scientist; surely you know drinking and smoking isn’t going to make you look twenty-one forever?”</p><p>To some people, it might have sounded like Evelyn was just being petty, but she knew where Mickey James had his weak spots. He hated the idea that he might go bald like his father. He argued vehemently against the idea that there was something out there he didn’t know. He thought posing with weights at the gym while checking out an aerobics class was enough fitness to keep him svelte, that it would counter out the three beers a night – more on weekends – and the chain smoking habit he thought made him look cool. Most of all, he especially didn’t like being mocked. </p><p>For the first time ever, he made a move towards Evelyn, fist clenched. Hop reached out to grab the back of his shirt and yank him away, but his hand closed around air instead. Mickey had doubled over right before Hopper could take hold, his hands now clutching his crotch and groaning.<br/>“Wow, that felt better than I imagined.” Hopper looked over at Evelyn, watching the way she skipped back out of Mickey’s reach and took hold of the trolley she had brought downstairs with her. “Let’s go.”<br/>Hopper glanced back at Mickey, who was still curled up on the cold ground, and then followed Evelyn outside where she was trying to lift the entire storage trolley into the back of the Blazer alone.<br/>“I’ve never done that before.” Evelyn confessed breathlessly, riding the high that had come from kneeing Mickey in his balls. “I kinda always wanted to, but felt like it was overkill, y’know? Figured if someone attacked me it’d be okay, but not just because I was angry at a guy.” Her breathy rambling was confusing and at the same time Hopper wanted to do nothing more than cheer her on. Instead, he grabbed the large, overfilled box from her and pushed it into the backseat.<br/>“Let’s get out of this city.”</p><p>Hopper wasted very little time in getting the truck started and moving. Evelyn was bouncing her leg in the passenger seat, glancing back to see if Mickey had come outside yet. <br/>“He proposed to you?” Hopper wondered why she had failed to mention that when she had shared her story the evening before.<br/>“Yeah. Just after Christmas. He found out I was going back to Hawkins and I guess he figured he’d have one last ditch attempt.”<br/>“You missed that bit out of your story.” Hopper was stuck behind a small, blue car that seemed to have stalled not once, but twice.<br/>“It was over.” Evelyn shrugged, finally looking over at him. “I could have bored you to sleep recounting the times Annie tried to convince me to make it up with him, or the places he showed up to buy me a drink, or walk me home, or try to get back together. At no point was I even slightly tempted by the idea.” She reached over to fiddle with the air conditioning. “I’d learnt my lesson.”<br/>Hopper finally had the chance to move out of the parking lot, but instead he slammed on the brakes, forcing Evelyn to brace herself against the dashboard with both hands.<br/>“What the-“<br/>“That man.” Hopper’s stunned gaze followed a group who had just crossed the quad. “I knew I recognised him.”<br/>“What? Who?” Evelyn sat up straight, peering through the windows to try and catch a glimpse of the man Hopper seemed to know.<br/>“He didn’t have the lab coat on yesterday, so it didn’t click.” He looked across at Evie who was just blinking at him, brow furrowed. “He was in Hawkins. At the lab the first time – when the gate had opened.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>DUN DUN DUUUN.</p><p>Okay, so for now it'll be a chapter every other day. I need to be kind to my RP writing partners and not leave them waiting, too. This way I can balance everything nicely.</p><p>&lt;33</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. The Cabin in The Woods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Soooo, are we really just going to sit around here all day?” Steve asked, his eyes moving across the blank faces of everyone who had been sitting silently for the fifteen minutes since he arrived.</p><p>This was the second day they had grouped up at the Byers residence. Yesterday had been a lot of worried discussion with a few arguments spattered in about if they should all be there. With the exception of Mrs Byers, every other parent thought their kids were at school, so there had been a lot of sick calls made to offices, and Nancy had been reluctant to suddenly become a teenage mother of eight. It was now all just a waiting game for Hopper and Miss Carter to come back home, but Steve was feeling antsy. He didn’t do well just sitting around while everyone talked about science theories or argued over board games.</p><p>“What else are we supposed to do?” Nancy asked, and Steve wondered if she had always looked at him like he was slower than the rest of them. Had she held this disdain for him ever since Barbara went missing and he just didn’t notice because he had been in love for the first time?<br/>
“Yeah, and you saw the state of Miss Carter. It’s not safe to be out there.” Lucas added, seemingly content to just sit next to Max and play with his wrist rocket. “What if there’s still more of them in the woods?”<br/>
Steve blinked at them. “Am I in a dream right now?” He stepped forward, standing in the centre of the room where the previous year Billy Hargrove had kicked the crap out of him. “You shitheads <i>never</i> just sit tight and wait for someone else to fix this. You kidnapped me last year – while I was unconscious – and stole a car.” He pointed directly at Max. “I don’t care what you say, you were twelve and you stole that car.”<br/>
“I was thirteen…”<br/>
“That’s…That is not the point.” Steve countered; eyebrows raised up towards his hairline as he stared the little group down, almost daring someone to argue back with him.<br/>
“Last year was different.” Dustin stood up, walking across the room to where Steve was had started pacing, fidgeting. “No one had their arm almost torn off by a Demodog.”<br/>
“You kept one as a pet! It <i>ate</i> your cat!”<br/>
“Dart was a little more work than I originally conceived, yes, but I didn’t know then that he would grow to be so big.”<br/>
“Or carnivorous?” Lucas asked, still not quite over the fact that Dustin had kept a baby Demogorgon as a pet.<br/>
“That too.”<br/>
“Are you all forgetting that Will just almost lost his mind to the Mindflayer?” Mike argued, joining Dustin not to argue with Steve or side with him. Instead he stared at Dustin as though the group’s Bard had forgotten the most important part of the story. “Miss Carter probably could have lived without an arm.”<br/>
“I’m not sure she’d have been too happy about that.” Steve pointed out, grimacing at the thought of his science teacher coming to school missing a limb. He struggled enough to pay attention as it was, but if she was missing an arm then he felt like he’d be even more distracted. Miss Carter was very much someone who enjoyed hand gestures in the classroom.<br/>
“What if the Mindflayer is back though? We can’t risk it getting one of us.” Mike continued his argument, barely noticing El coming to his side.<br/>
“No Mindflayer.” She said, almost certain of her words. She knew it was different this time, just like the second time had been different from the first time.<br/>
“I agree.” Will said, speaking up at last. “I don’t feel him. I haven’t felt anything like that since the gate closed.” He didn’t like the thought of anything coming back to Hawkins from The Upside Down, but the second he felt strange he would have told someone. Up until the other night he had been able to believe that things were getting back to normal.</p><p>“It doesn’t matter – no one is going anywhere.” Jonathan stood up from the worn armchair, making sure his gaze caught everyone’s. “I promised my mom that the door would stay locked until she got home.”<br/>
“So I’ll climb out of a window.”<br/>
“Steve, what do you even want to go and do?” Dustin asked calmly, trying to diffuse any kind of situation that might already be brewing. The tension in the room was reminiscent of the air before a storm; a staticky energy that could go off at any moment.<br/>
“There is a monster’s corpse laying on the floor of Miss Carter’s home. Last year you shoved one in that refrigerator for some science bullshit!”<br/>
“So?” Dustin asked, shrugging like it had been no big deal.<br/>
“So, do you think she’s going to want to come back from Milwaukee to that?”<br/>
“Why do you care?” Nancy looked at Steve with narrowed eyes and folded arms. </p><p>He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Steve knew he wasn’t the smartest kid in school – far from it – but admitting it was something else entirely. His former popularity had protected him from being mocked for being stupid, but he was fending for himself in these final months of high school, suddenly realising that he maybe should have spent a little more time studying.<br/>
“Miss Carter…she’s helped me a lot these last few months. She’s explained compound fractions to me, that whole motion and force thing, Pro-carrots-“<br/>
“Prokaryotes.” Dustin corrected.<br/>
“Those.” Steve looked around the room, but his focus was primarily on Nancy and Jonathan – the two who knew Miss Carter best. “She’s one of the few teachers who doesn’t make me feel so dumb. She breaks everything down into things I can understand – or she gives me analogies I can work with. I wanna help her. Say thanks. Y’know.”</p><p> </p><p>Despite the one bad interaction Jonathan and Nancy had shared with Miss Carter, they knew she was a good teacher. She hadn’t been worn down by years of disinterested students. She didn’t just talk at them like they weren’t in the room. She engaged them, used common metaphors and ideas to get them through the more complicated topics. She pressed them to do more, encouraged them when they had doubts. Nancy had even said to Jonathan just the week before that it was a shame that they only had her for a short amount of time before graduation. She might have come to enjoy science more with her.</p><p>Steve knew the final weeks couldn’t make a huge difference to how he finished high school; he couldn’t undo three years of slacking off and cruising by on popularity. But Miss Carter had made him realise that he could understand the work. He did know things – he just needed to have them taught to him in a slightly different way. She had explained that there were different kind of learners, some snapped it up right away whereas other people needed more visuals or required additional time to wrap their head around a new thing. She was never impatient with him, and for the first time ever, Steve hadn’t minded sticking around after class, or catching her at the end of the day. </p><p> </p><p>“Fine, but we’re coming back here before mom gets home.” Jonathan relented, actually understanding and agreeing with Steve’s point. He didn’t think Miss Carter should come home to a destroyed house – especially not when she had left to find a solution to their problem.</p><p> </p><p>It was El who led them to the science teacher’s cabin. She knew it wasn’t far from her own home; Hopper had said his friend lived nearby, and she knew enough from the radio to know the signal was stronger the closer he was to their cabin. The night that Evelyn had been hurt his voice had been crystal clear. She also had a feeling it was the same cabin she had seen abandoned when she had first been surviving in the woods after escaping from The Upside Down. She had wanted to go inside, to shelter there, but it had been too scary. It was dark and parts had creaked in the night-time breeze.</p><p> </p><p>From the outside, Evelyn’s home looked abandoned. The front door was laying flat where it ought to be standing, and the winds had blown fallen leaves and loose grass through the open space. She hadn’t actually managed to do too much to the landscaping of the property since she had arrived in Hawkins, so the overgrown weeds and early spring wildflowers also altered the teenagers’ perception of the modest little home. Her car was still out front, a little muddy around the bottom from driving up the dirt path every time she left and came home again.</p><p> </p><p>Stepping inside, the group looked around at the small home. Despite the new additions to the old place, everything gave off a vibe of abandonment. Brighter colours seemed dull, the sunlight barely flickering through closed curtains. Each step crunched; broken glass still scattered across the wooden floor in varying sized shards. The space was eerily chilled, thanks to the smashed window and broken-down door. The floor, and some of the furniture was stained with dried blood - a disturbing amount of it when they thought the person it belonged to was currently running around another state with Hopper. A slimy residue still lingered in the kitchen, but there was no Demogorgon body to be found.<br/>
“It-It was dead, right?” Mike asked, glancing at El for confirmation, but all she could do was shrug. She hadn’t been here. She hadn’t seen or felt anything before Hopper had used the radio to tell her they had to run.<br/>
“The chief drove an axe into it, didn’t he?” Nancy turned to Jonathan, hoping he would have an explanation, but he was just staring at the spot where they had expected to see the corpse.<br/>
“It had to have killed it.” Lucas moved a little closer to his friends, not noticing that they were all doing the same, forming a tight circle as they looked around the cabin.<br/>
“He said they left it in the kitchen.” Steve recalled, pointing to the ground. “It had to have been here.”<br/>
“You don’t think it woke up and left, do you?” Dustin didn’t know if the broken door or the broken window should hold his attention the most.<br/>
“With an axe buried in it? We’d have seen a trail…right?” Mike wanted someone to answer him, but everyone was sporting the same pale faced, wide eyed expression. No one would admit to it, but they were all waiting, tense, in case the monster jumped out from a darkened corner of the cabin where it had coiled up like a snake, healing.<br/>
“It was dead, it had to be.” Steve remembered beating the shit out of one with the baseball bat. An axe must have been enough to kill it.<br/>
“Well then where the hell is it?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A little short piece to show what everyone else is up to!</p><p>I wanted this to be longer, but I've been sick the last few days and so my usual writing pattern was disrupted. Next chapter takes us back to Evie and Hop.</p><p>&lt;33</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. The Ninth Floor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Okay, so I didn’t exactly expect to be doing a U-Turn in the parking lot and heading back into the building where I just squished my ex-boyfriend’s scrotum up into his stomach.” Evelyn held onto the door handle as Hopper quickly spun the Blazer around, tyres screeching against the tarmac. “And I especially didn’t think I’d be heading back into the building where I’d just stolen thousands of dollars’ worth of potentially dangerous chemicals.”<br/>“Stay in the truck.” Hopper instructed as he climbed out of it.<br/>“What? No!” Evelyn broke an already short nail as she tugged the door open, disentangling herself from the seatbelt as she chased after Hopper. “I’m not going to leave you to get lost in there.”<br/>“This is dangerous, Evie. That man was part of the team that used El for their sick experiments. He helped open the gate. And then he helped cover it up.” Hopper stopped at the side of the main door, his back pressed against the chilled brick. His attention was solely on Evelyn. He needed her to know that whatever they had left behind in Hawkins had followed them to Milwaukee.<br/>“Because the Demogorgon smashing through my kitchen window and trying to kill me wasn’t dangerous.” Her sarcasm was not something Hopper wanted to hear, but Evelyn wouldn’t be dissuaded. “If something happened to you in there I wouldn’t know about it until they came looking for me.”<br/>“But if you’re with me then “something” could happen to both of us.”<br/>“Well let’s hope it’s a two-v-one kind of scenario.” She took a deep breath, peering around the corner to see if Mickey was still laying on the ground or lingering nearby as he collected the remains of his dignity.</p><p>The lobby seemed clear. Never before had Evelyn been uneased by an empty foyer. <br/>“And you’re definitely sure it was the same guy? Because there are a lot of grey-haired men who look a little dead walking around in lab coats here. It’s part of the college experience. Or the science experience, I’m not really sure.”<br/>“I’m sure.” Hopper insisted, leading them back inside the building. “And you’re doing that thing where you talk too much when you’re nervous.”<br/>“I do that? Really?”<br/>“Yes.” He opened the door to the stairwell and Evelyn slipped through behind him. He thought about mentioning how she tugged on her ear, too, when she was nervous in a conversation, but he decided against it. He didn’t want to come off as creepy, even though noticing the little details was technically a large part of his job.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn took the stairs a little slower than Hopper, her joints still protesting when she moved too quickly or too suddenly. She felt considerably better than yesterday, but her body at times needed to remind her that she had been severely injured and that it needed her to be a little gentler with the limbs and muscles that had supported her so far for thirty years. It was also a subtle reminder that she was, in fact, slowly getting older. She couldn’t bounce back like she had once done as a child.</p><p>“Where are you going?” Evelyn asked, as Hopper paused to read the signs at the second-floor entrance.<br/>“I haven’t figured that out yet.” He mumbled, eyes roving over the words as though any of them made sense to him. They were all based in science, almost all designed to be clear only to those who had studied it. He spun around to face Evie. “If there was something really secretive going on here, where would it be?”<br/>She gave him a look of bewilderment, but then answered his question quietly. “Ninth floor – top floor. No one could get in there without a key card.”<br/>“Shit.”<br/>“Professor Schultz would probably have one.” Evelyn offered up, moving up the stairs to the office Hopper had only glimpsed inside of. “But the research here was on, like, insecticides or pollution. It’s not harbouring Demogorgons and gateways to another dimension.” Hopper began to follow behind her, his thoughts drifting to the “chemical spill” story that had circulated after Barbara’s confirmed death. “Most of this is funded by farmers and environmental agencies trying to keep the peace.” And prevent further “chemical spills”, Hopper thought.</p><p> </p><p>He felt the same way he had done that Friday afternoon. His gut was twisting, telling him to go back, to forget he had ever recognised the gaunt scientist. Every nerve in his body was alert, his fingers tingling with a weird sort of apprehension he had never given much thought to. His chest was tight, and he was aware of the rapid beating of his heart. Nothing good could come from this and he wanted to send Evie back to the truck at once, but he knew she wouldn’t listen. She was stubborn, if not foolish in this current situation, and he doubted she’d do anything if it meant he’d be left alone in a strange building. That kind of loyalty reminded him of the good cops he had worked with in New York before his life had spiralled. The few he trusted to always have his back. But Evie wasn’t a cop, and she was hurt, and she could be hurt again, and it would be all his fault. He needed to send her back to the truck. He had to -</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, Professor, I was just coming to find you.”<br/>“I thought we agreed that I’d never see you again?” Hopper had never seen a man look so frustrated. His cheeks were reddened, his eyes narrowing at the woman he had seemed afraid of just a day ago.<br/>“Well, I forgot one little thing-“<br/>Hopper swung his fist, catching the professor in the jaw and sending him crashing to the floor.<br/>“Hopper!”<br/>“Something’s not right here.” Hopper stated, dropping to a crouch to search for a key card in the unconscious man’s pockets. “He was terrified of you when we first arrived, and now he just looks pissed.”<br/>“I <i>had</i> blackmailed him.” Evelyn pointed out, not entirely sure what was wrong with Hopper right now. “You didn’t have to hit him.”<br/>“He cheated on his dying wife; are you saying he didn’t deserve it?”<br/>Evie’s head tilted to the side and she shrugged awkwardly, humming in a way that suggested she sort of agreed with Hopper, but didn’t want to outright say that. She had never had much of a taste for violence considering two of her brothers had been killed in a cruel war.<br/>“Got it.” Hopper found the card attached to a lanyard wrapped around the professor’s brown leather wallet. “Do the stairs go all the way up?”<br/>“Yeah. The elevator only goes to the eighth floor.” Evelyn had never thought that suspicious until now. She had always just assumed it was to protect the research and stop any bored students trying to break into the private research labs. Now she wasn’t so sure. She wanted it to be nothing more than paranoia triggered by what she had heard about the recent years of Hawkins, but there was a drop in her stomach that she often experienced when her intuition and not her reasoning was right. </p><p> </p><p>At the ninth floor, Hopper slid the key card through the reader; the light turned from red to green and there was a barely audible beep as the door unlocked. The hallway was dim compared to those in the rest of the building, lit with wall lights instead of the expected overhead fluorescents. The doors on this floor were metal, heavy ominous looking things with very small peephole windows at the top – most of them were blocked off with paper from the inside, and the nearest one that wasn’t blacked out only revealed a vacant lab nearly identical to the one Evelyn had been working from.<br/>“It’s too quiet.” She whispered, pressing herself against Hopper’s back to peer around the corner with him. She was more than happy for him to lead given his law enforcement status, but she didn’t want them to miss something she might be able to identify or help with. “Also, if you go into any of these rooms with the intention of firing your gun, there’s a chance you’ll cause an explosion that will engulf us all.” She had seen him reaching for the pistol tucked into the back of his trousers, her eyes fixed on his now frozen hand. “I’d rather not die today, Hop.”<br/>He cursed under his breath, sighing heavily as he pulled his hand back empty. </p><p>The sound of a lock clicking pushed them back around the corner, watching discreetly as a short man in a lab coat walked away from them. As he slipped into another room, Hop dashed forward, catching the door right before the lock engaged. Evelyn walked up behind him and hugged herself. It was cold on this floor, and she was starting to feel that chill seeping through her clothes. <br/>Hopper peered through the covered glass, trying to see what he could through a small tear in the corner, about the size of a shirt button. All he could see was the sterile white of the lab, the bare counters and the pristine sink along the righthand wall. There was no sound coming from inside so, hoping that there wasn’t anyone quietly working in there, Hopper pushed the door open just enough to poke his head around at first, and then enough so that he could slide through the gap with Evelyn close behind him.</p><p> </p><p>This lab was bigger than it first appeared. The left-hand wall only went halfway down the length of the room, a sharp corner leading further into the large lab space. Where the initial entrance to the lab looked identical to the rest in the building, this second half of the room was more spacious. There were only two lab benches at the front, the counters lining the rest of the walls with cabinets dotted above them. They were clean, but seemingly cluttered with small equipment Hopper didn’t recognise, and some pieces took Evelyn a moment to identify, too. They were either rarely used or were modified fragments beyond their normal uses and appearance. </p><p>More concerning to both of them was the two dissection tables in the centre of the space. They had been pushed together to fit the long, bumpy figure that laid across them. The body was covered with a huge sheet of white material, but Evelyn unfortunately recognised the shape and size underneath what reminded her of a poorly wrapped Christmas gift.<br/>Her heart raced, and she thought it was just her mind, but her mauled arm seemed to sting all of a sudden, the throbbing pain almost in time with the thump, thump of her anxious heart. Hopper reached out to grab her wrist, but she shook him off. She needed to see for herself, she needed to know for certain that what she thought was under there really was under there. </p><p>She thought about pulling the sheet back slowly, but the moment her fingers closed around the thin fabric she wrenched it back, dropping it as though it burnt her. Underneath the sheet were her most vivid memories of the evening her flesh had been ripped and torn from her body. She remembered the citrus of her cabin blanched with the sweet, metallic scent of her own blood. The sound of her skin being flayed from her body, her screams filling the small space as she felt certain that she was going to die on the same wooden floor where she had once sat and coloured. <br/>“It can’t be…” Hopper breathed, pacing around the corpse of the Demogorgon, part of him afraid it wasn’t actually going to stay dead. “How are they bringing them through here? We’re nowhere near Hawkins.”<br/>“It’s from my cabin. They went there.” She didn’t know if that was more terrifying than the memory of how she had nearly died. The thought of strangers in her home, going through her personal things left her uncomfortable. With everything else she was already feeling right now – the anxiety, the fear, the pain – it was hard to know how to react to it. <br/>“No. They couldn’t have known where to find this.”<br/>Evelyn’s eyes fell on the long talon like fingers of the creature. Sure enough, the light blue fabric of what had once been a favourite sweater still hung there, blood stained and ragged.<br/>“The state troopers.” Hopper realised, clapping his hand to his face. After seeing Evie being attacked, he had forgotten all about them and what they had come to mean to him in recent years. “They must have been waiting for something to happen.”<br/>“Remind me to politely ask them to choke on cyanide if I ever see them again.” She had disliked them from the beginning, but know she could only see them waiting, lingering near her home and anticipating her death. “But why would they bring it here? Like you just said we’re nowhere near home.”<br/>“Maybe that’s the point.” He didn’t like one bit of this, what he was seeing, how Evie sounded, or anything it was pointing towards. “Maybe they moved far enough away that it wouldn’t be suspicious but stayed close enough just in case.”</p><p> </p><p>“Very good. You’re not as stupid as you look.”<br/>The voice startled both of them, and they turned around to see three men standing in the large space that joined the two halves of the lab. One was the gaunt faced, sallow skinned scientist Hopper recognised, another was a burly man in black holding a rather intimidating gun, and the third had white hair combed back from his face and was wearing a smart, dark coloured suit. Hopper instantly moved himself in front of Evelyn, in a way that told her he knew this final man, the one who stood in the centre of the trio, taller than the others, almost equal in height to Hop.<br/>“Brenner.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>My Wi-Fi cut out every time I tried to post this today.<br/>And I found slime mold in the corner of my garden when I was out there weeding today...</p><p>Hope you're all keeping safe and well, and I hope this short chapter provides a brief escape from reality for those who need it &lt;3</p>
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<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Betrayal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The binds around Evelyn’s wrist were probably tighter than they needed to be. After the guy with the gun took Hopper’s pistol they were quickly restrained. They used a set of handcuffs on Hopper, but the bandages wrapped thickly around her arm and hand wouldn’t fit between the metal claws. She had been held at gunpoint while the gaunt scientist – they discovered his name was Coleman – tied her up with a thick cord slightly less abrasive than rope would have been. While her heart was still beating out of her chest she was just relieved they hadn’t stripped her arm bare and then restrained her; she didn’t think she’d have been able to handle the feeling of her bruised, scabbed arm being forced back like that and chafing against cold metal. </p><p>Roughly, with a gun still pointing at them, they were escorted to the remnants of an office, that now looked more like an interrogation cell. Its breezeblock walls painted a bright white, with a metal desk in the centre and four basic hardback chairs. Evelyn noticed a small drain located under the table, perfectly in the centre of the room and that did absolutely nothing to help her nerves. Even the labs didn’t come with drains in the floor, and she knew a handful of former biology and medicine majors who would have definitely appreciated one.</p><p>Forced into two of those cold, hard chairs, they silently waited for Brenner to talk. He seemed to be content with just staring down at them to begin with, standing behind the polished metal table. Coleman and the guard set about ensuring neither Hopper nor Evelyn could move from the chairs at will. Evelyn bit back a cry when her forearm was grabbed and tugged over the back of the seat. Tears pricked at her eyes, but she didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of knowing she was in pain or afraid.</p><p> </p><p>“Let her go. She has nothing to do with this.”<br/>
Hopper’s voice broke the tense silence and Evelyn’s head snapped to look at him, her eyes wide in disbelief.<br/>
“The hell I do. I have everything to do with this!”<br/>
Hopper’s mouth was agape when he turned to her, his expression now alight with crude annoyance.<br/>
In the brief moment while he held her gaze, they shared a silent exchange. Hopper questioned if she was crazy and Evelyn told him with a defiant look that she wasn’t going to leave him here in the lion’s den to be feasted upon.<br/>
“I don’t think either of you are in a position to bargain.” Brenner finally spoke, interrupting their argument of looks, and drawing their anxious attention back to him. “I know better than to trust your word after last time, Chief, and you-“ He turned to Evelyn, smirking ever so slightly. “You assaulted a member of my research team.”<br/>
“Well, he mangled my knee in a car crash, so I’d say we’re even.” Evelyn knew she probably ought to be quiet, to remember the man with the gun was still standing by the door, but the words just rolled from her tongue before she could stop them. For the first time, she thought maybe Hopper had been right about her nervous talking and now she was worried it might be the thing that got her killed.<br/>
“And the one you left unconscious on the third floor?”<br/>
Evelyn shrugged as best as she could in her restraints, which meant it was more like tucking her neck into her shoulders. “Prejudicial scum?” She offered up, really having nothing nice to say about her former professor.<br/>
Brenner chuckled once, looking down at Evelyn with the kind of expression one might give to a fluffy docile animal in passing. “Such a shame. You would have made a nice addition to my team.”<br/>
This time Evelyn managed to stay quiet – much to Hopper’s relief – but only because there was a predatory look in Martin Brenner’s cold eyes that stilled her.</p><p>He nodded to the armed man, a silent command neither Hopper or Evelyn understood until the burly guard moved forward and clouted Hopper in the face with the butt of his rifle, pulling a grunt and hiss from the Police Chief and causing Evelyn to shriek and struggle against her bonds. Blood leaked from Hopper’s nose, but if he was bothered by it, he didn’t let it show, instead choosing to glare up at Brenner.<br/>
“That the best you got?”<br/>
This time the guard threw a punch that rocked Hopper back on the chair, the sound of the gloved fist connecting bone turning Evelyn’s stomach.<br/>
“Stop it!” She screeched, desperately trying to scoot closer to Hopper to check on him. The skin of his brow had split over his right eye and blood was oozing from the fresh wound.<br/>
“You took something that belonged to me.” Brenner’s voice was like ice on an already cold winter’s day; unwelcome and dangerous.<br/>
“How are you even alive?” Evelyn noticed that Hopper deflected the statement easily.<br/>
“I could ask your friend here the same thing. Initial blood findings at the scene suggested she should have died.”<br/>
“I guess we’re both just lucky.” She spat, hating the way Brenner looked at her like she was some kind of prize won at the county fair.<br/>
Brenner was silent, keeping his eyes fixed on Evelyn before he finally spoke. “I’ll give you two a moment to think on the benefits of cooperating with me. For your sake, I think you should. You might not be so lucky this time.”<br/>
The men left the room, leaving Evelyn and Hopper bound to the cold, hard chairs they had been pushed into. </p><p> </p><p>“Are you okay?” They both asked each other at the same time, both smiling slightly at the coincidence in spite of their current circumstances.<br/>
“Yeah, I am.”<br/>
“Me too.”<br/>
“Who is that man?” Evelyn asked; despite everything she had been told she hadn’t been able to put two and two together with Brenner.<br/>
“Papa.” Hopper kept his voice as low as he could, just in case someone was listening.<br/>
He didn’t want them to know that El was with him, that she had been safe for the last two years, getting closer and closer to living a simple, normal life as a regular teenager. Hopper would die before he gave that information up. He had worked too hard to keep her safe, to make her legitimate should anyone come knocking. Doctor Owens had cleared the way for a mundane life and Hopper would be damned if he didn’t lead her to it. Evelyn didn’t need it spelling out that Hopper wouldn’t give up El. She didn’t want to either. She didn’t want to say or do anything that could help the “bad men”.<br/>
“But I thought-“<br/>
“Me too.”<br/>
“How can he-“<br/>
“I don’t know.”</p><p>The silence descended upon them again, and they both looked at each other without really focusing on them. Their thoughts wrapped around them, logic working to figure a way out of this mess they’d landed in.<br/>
Hopper was relying on everything he had learnt in the police force, and in the army. His thoughts were tactical and led slightly more towards violence than he knew Evelyn would have liked; but he had to get her out of here – out of danger.<br/>
Evelyn was focusing more on trickery, on outsmarting their capturers. Her ideas also wanted to pull as much information from Brenner and Coleman before they got away, intelligent ammunition to arm themselves with should this battle return to Hawkins. However, she too was considering paths of violence as a last resort. </p><p> </p><p> Before either of them had reached a conclusion on an escape plan, the door opened again, Brenner leading the way before the armed guard closed the door behind himself. Coleman wasn’t with them this time, but only Evelyn wondered where he had gone. Hopper’s gaze was intently fixed on Brenner.<br/>
“Are you ready to talk?”<br/>
“Oh, I can talk all day. What do you want to talk about? The weather? Music? How about-“<br/>
The punch was delivered swiftly, without Brenner even needing to prompt the guard this time. Hopper’s head snapped to the right and Evelyn watched on in horror as he slowly tested his now aching jaw, which had instantly reddened from the heavy blow.<br/>
“Kill him.”<br/>
The gun was pressed against Hopper’s temple, much closer than it needed to be to execute the beaten man. If the guard applied the right pressure to the trigger in that moment, then Evelyn would be wearing Hopper’s remains.<br/>
“NO!” She screamed, struggling unrewardingly against the rope, tugging her bound limbs towards Hopper. “No, I-I know everything! I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”<br/>
“Evie – no!”<br/>
“I’m sorry Hop, but I can’t let them kill you.” Tears filled her eyes, and she shook her head furiously. She couldn’t watch him die. She couldn’t face another tragedy in her life, and especially not another one that was brought about by guns and violence. “But I want to see that creature again first.”<br/>
“Why?” Brenner’s eyes narrowed in curiosity and Evelyn could practically see his mind trying to work out what advantage she would gain by seeing the monster again.<br/>
“Scientific curiosity.” She answered instantly. “I never did get a good look at what almost killed me.” She wet her dry lips, nerves drying out her mouth and making words scratch as she spoke. “And if you’re going to kill me anyway, then what’s the harm in it?”<br/>
“Very well.” Another head nod, and Evelyn was tugged up from the chair, the gloved grip on her bicep tight enough that she knew it would bruise.<br/>
“Evie. Don’t do this.”<br/>
“I’m sorry, Jim.” The room was too bright, pain was slowly him down, and she was moved too quickly, which meant Hopper didn’t catch the discreet wink tossed his way as she apologised, or the fact that she had called him Jim.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope everyone is keeping well and safe.</p><p>I apologise for this and the last chapter being on the shorter side, but it was either break them down into smaller parts or end up with a monstrously long part with too much happening to keep up with.</p><p>----Going Forward/Real talk below----<br/>I feel strange writing about violence when the world is watching and discussing such terrible things. I want my work to be an escape, a brief reprieve from the horrors and confusion of the day-to-day. I just want to say that I will continue every other day with updates, but that there will be (as already tagged) a canon level of violence throughout, and that  if that is something that you don't feel you can 'enjoy' (for lack of a more appropriate phrase) right now, then please bookmark and come back when you can. I cannot avoid it in the upcoming chapters due to where we're at in the story. </p><p>Writing of any kind should be thought provoking, bring a certain amount of peace or enjoyment to a person, and provide that escape to a fantasy world where anything is possible. I'll continue writing and posting because I know so many people need that escape to be able to reset, to calm their anxieties. I need that escape and I know I'm not alone in that. The world is heavy, and while we can support and demand change, we also need to take care of ourselves and each other.<br/>&lt;33</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Hell Hath No Fury Like A Science Teacher Pt. 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was nothing gentle about the way Evelyn was escorted to the lab where the body of the Demogorgon was located. The grip on her arm was tight – in fact she was certain it got tighter the closer they got. She was bumped by the guard marching her along, his gun jabbing her in the ribs every third or fourth step. She didn’t know if that was a menacing reminder or accident, but it rattled her regardless. Brenner led the way, not once looking back at the captive science teacher. He opened the door and walked straight around to where the monster was, and only then did he glance back at Evelyn and nod at the unforgiving guard who had held her.</p><p>When he let go, Evelyn stumbled forward before twisting right in an effort to regain her balance. Her bound arms hit the lab bench and she winced, biting her lip so as not to cry out. She stayed there for a moment, letting her numb fingertips find the edge of the white countertop. Then, slowly, she slid herself along, getting closer to the motionless corpse inch by inch. When her fingers slipped off the corner of the bench she circled the dissection tables, looking over the Demogorgon with a sharp eye, her brain noting all the things that ought to have killed her, all the things that made it a near perfect predator.<br/>
“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” Brenner spoke to her in a voice that was oozing with pride; like this was his child who had just won state.<br/>
“That’s one way to put it.” Evelyn mumbled before letting her gaze switch from one monster to another. “Your man has a gun, and you know I’m already injured. Any chance I could have my hands back?”<br/>
He thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. The guard produced a knife to slice through the rope and Evelyn rubbed the feeling back into her hands.<br/>
“Thank you.” She hated being nice to Brenner, but she needed to feed his ego, to make him talk just as much as he wanted her to talk. </p><p>“How did it get to Hawkins?” She asked, keeping the Demogorgon between herself and Brenner, and also keeping her hands in plain sight. She didn’t want him to think she was up to something.<br/>
“You know how.”<br/>
She shook her head. “The gate was closed.”<br/>
He smiled that condescending smile again. “Every home has a side entrance, a back gate - a fence to climb over.”<br/>
“Mine doesn’t.” There was that anxious talking again, speaking on behalf of Evelyn while she tried to comb through every possibility of what was going on here and how and why it connected to Hawkins.<br/>
“You had a kitchen window.”<br/>
“There’s always another way in.” Evelyn whispered, realising that when El closed the gate she had only blocked off the most obvious route. The portals in the woods had seemingly vanished, but what if they were just diverted?</p><p>“You promised me answers. Or should I send my friend here back to finish off the Chief?”<br/>
“You haven’t asked a question.” Evelyn’s heart was racing. She could feel the pounding in her chest and hear it in her ears. Her plan wasn’t the cleanest, and she needed to remain calm above everything else right now.<br/>
“How did you find us here?”<br/>
“Coincidence – believe it or not.” She admitted, really having nothing to hide in why they were at the college. “This is my former alma mater. I needed a space to run a few tests that Hawkins High didn’t have the equipment for.” At that moment Coleman came around the corner. Evelyn hadn’t heard anyone coming into the lab, but she kept her gaze on him as she finished her sentence. “Old faces were recognised. You’d merely switched one lab for another.”<br/>
“What kind of tests were you running?” Brenner asked, Evelyn having successfully grabbed his curiosity.<br/>
“Environmental tests. The results were inconclusive.” She didn’t want any of them to know she had loaded the back of the Blazer with chemicals. Her vague response right now needed to rely on the hope that they hadn’t gone looking for the police truck in the parking lot. Brenner either hadn’t considered theft a possibility, or he was an excellent bluffer. Evelyn couldn’t decide.<br/>
“What sort of environmental tests?”<br/>
“There was a mild mold issue I was looking into. It was cheaper to do it myself than look at hiring an overpriced professional.”<br/>
“Then why did you arrive with the Chief of Police?”<br/>
Evelyn held up her bandaged hand. “It’s a little hard to make the journey when you’ve been mauled.” Her hand fell back to her side. “He owed me a favour.”<br/>
“Like Professor Schultz?”<br/>
“I collect favours. They come in useful from time to time.”<br/>
“And it just happened that you had to run these tests so soon after your encounter with the creature?”<br/>
She shrugged. “People respond to situations in a number of different ways – your work proves that. I had a broken window, a broken door and a mold problem. I needed to work on fixing something.”</p><p>Brenner didn’t believe her – not completely anyway. His face was stoic, but she sensed it from him. Evelyn had considered herself to be pretty good at reading people – a skill she’d recommend for any aspiring teacher – but while Brenner’s poker face gave her nothing to work with, it also told her just enough to know that the ice she walked on was thin.</p><p>“Mr James told me you were quite resourceful.” Brenner took three steps closer to the table, but seemed content to keep the carcass between them. He didn’t trust Evelyn and she certainly didn’t trust him.<br/>
“Mickey?”<br/>
“He was supposed to join you in Hawkins. Monitor the activity there.” Coleman spoke up, his words dripping with disdain, but Evelyn couldn’t tell if it was directed at her or Mickey. All she cared about in regard to Coleman was that he hadn’t realised her plan when he came into the lab.<br/>
“The proposal.”<br/>
The pieces fell into place. </p><p>When Mickey had proposed in the weeks before her move back home, he had been full of empty promises about changing, about leaving the city so he could be a better person. Evelyn had only half-listened to his desperate speech because she knew it was all bullshit. She knew the city hadn’t poisoned him. She knew he’d always been the way he was, but she had been blinded by grief and naivety, too young to know better. She wasn’t in the habit of repeating mistakes and she certainly wasn’t going to bring one home with her. The proposal was just an attempt to further himself. It would have been another bullet point on the list of times Mickey had used her for his own gain. What made her blood boil most was that she would have been oblivious to it all, potentially left for dead on her cabin floor because she knew – she <i>knew</i> that Mickey would never have saved her like Hopper did; he wasn’t brave, or caring enough to risk his own life for hers.</p><p> </p><p>Brenner was watching her closely. He saw the flickers of emotion across her face, the realisation giving way to anger. He thought she would have made an interesting addition to the project, but he sensed she would have been just as much trouble as she was helpful. The good ones always were. And he was through indulging her.</p><p>“Where is Eleven?”<br/>
“Who?” She feigned ignorance, rubbing her sore arm as though it was bothering her, interfering with her focus. In truth, it was hurting, aching and itchy beneath the bandages. If she wasn’t being held against her will, now probably would have been the time she took another pill to numb the pain.<br/>
“The child; Eleven.” Brenner leaned against the edge of the table, palms shoulder width apart as they pressed into the cold metal. “I know she closed the gate.”<br/>
“Oh, the kid.” Evelyn shrugged, keeping her head high and her gaze on Brenner’s. “I have no idea. She found another like herself somewhere in Connecticut. Ran away long before I came home.” She told the lie with ease because technically it wasn’t a lie. Eleven had ran away long before Evelyn came to Hawkins. She just omitted the part about her coming back.<br/>
“Another?” Coleman asked, stepping forward, but being certain not to step closer to her than Brenner. No one dared overstep Brenner, regardless of the situation.<br/>
Evelyn tilted her head, raising her eyebrow at the scientist. “If she was called Eleven it makes sense that ten more would come before her.” She switched her stare back to Brenner, hoping to catch a flicker of anything across his expressionless face. “Maybe more after her?”</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn’s brain was thinking a lot faster than she was acting. She was taking every tiny bit of information that she already knew, mixing it with the things she wasn’t so sure of, and filling in gaps with sensible assumptions. Brenner had needed Eleven to open the gate, to communicate with what lingered in The Upside Down. He had gone away when she had – presumed dead, of course – but if he was back now and far from Hawkins Lab, then it made sense to assume that there was another child, someone else who bore the same potential as Eleven had done. Evelyn knew he had never cared for the girl. She may have called him Papa, but he was no father to her; not like Hopper was. Brenner would have discarded her the second he was through with her, and he pretty much done just that. If they had almost tore Hawkins to the ground when she escaped the first time, killed people who had seen her, then logic dictated there was no longer a need for her.</p><p> </p><p>“MK-Ultra was a fascinating study.” Evelyn eased herself into the conversation, choosing her words slowly and delicately. “Sometimes you have to push the human body and mind to its limits to find something…remarkable behind the flesh and bones.” It made her feel sick to talk like this, to give credit to something she had found so appalling, but she needed Brenner to talk. And she needed time; much more than she probably had left.<br/>
Brenner was watching her, studying her, and she knew he was trying to work out what her play was. Folding her arms to hide her shaking hands, Evelyn gave a small smile, hoping her features were as relaxed as she longed to be. She didn’t want Brenner to suspect anything was afoot.<br/>
“I wonder what could have been found had the project not been stopped.” Evelyn cocked her head, trying to bring forward the excitement she felt for science rather than the repulsion she felt for the abuse of it. “But then, it only stopped as far as the public knew, didn’t it? It carried on quietly in Hawkins – though I suppose it was an entirely new project then, right? Because there was more focus on sensory deprivation and less on the use of psychotics and electroshock therapy. Now that it’s here, I wonder if it’s changed again?”<br/>
Brenner gave her nothing, but she noticed the guard behind him look a little uncomfortable, his weight shifting from foot to foot.<br/>
“Were you trying to open the gate here? What would that accomplish?”<br/>
Coleman cracked, wiping his damp forehead on the sleeve of his lab coat. “Accomplish? Do you know how the war would tip in our favour if we had their power?” Brenner gave a cold look over his shoulder and the gaunt man fell silent.<br/>
“You want to domesticate this?” She gestured to the Demogorgon on the table. “Not possible.” She looked at Brenner. “Didn’t it almost kill you last time?”<br/>
“Leave.” Brenner instructed Coleman. He was silent as the scientist reluctantly obliged. She listened, hearing his footsteps fading before there was a dull – almost inaudible - thud that she knew was not a door. Her heart beat faster now, and not because Brenner had that predatory look on his face again as he wet his lips and spoke to her once more.<br/>
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”</p><p>She hesitated, but only briefly, before pulling the safety pin from her dressing and slowly unravelling the bandage, coiling it around her right hand while keeping her eyes on Brenner. The wounds were still angry, her skin still mottled purple and blue. The scabs covered the torn off skin, but they were almost black in colour, fading out to a deep wine red. They were uneven and crusty; quite possible the nastiest injury Evelyn had ever seen, let alone experienced.</p><p>Brenner, almost admiring the damage caused to the young woman, tugged at his tie, loosening it before unbuttoning the top two buttons on his crisp white shirt. He didn’t show Evelyn everything, but she saw enough to know that his healing scars bore the same drag pattern that hers did. Someone had pulled him to safety and kept him far away from Hawkins during the recovery. But was that for Brenner’s safety, or the safety of the town. She wasn’t sure exactly where loyalties lay when it came to this particular research group and the government it supposedly worked for.</p><p> </p><p>“We don’t need America to bear the same wounds as us, Brenner.” She said, crudely wrapping her arm up again as he re-adjusted his clothing.<br/>
“Not America. Russia.”<br/>
“Hawkins isn’t Russia.” Then it dawned on her. “But you opened the gate there from here…that was how this got through.” Brenner’s slight flash of a smug smile told her she was correct. “You’ve been experimenting on the distances. Using Hawkins because there must be residual tears – scar tissue – that make it easier for the path to be opened than if you had to start all over again with nothing.”<br/>
“It really is a shame, Miss Carter, that you were never a part of my team. You could have helped us discover remarkable things.” Brenner stepped back and Evelyn knew that was the sign their conversation was over. She had offered him nothing of worth, and he had nothing more to give her.<br/>
“Kill her.”<br/>
And that was the moment when Evelyn’s plan bore fruit, because the armed guard collapsed as he stepped forward.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>There was a lot of information in this one - but I hope you're all keeping up!</p><p>And thank you for all the kudos in the last few days. I've been a bit iffy on the pacing of the last few parts ( I am not a planner when it comes to writing unless it's researching stuff) so I'm glad this story is still going over well.</p><p>&lt;33</p>
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<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Scars and Promises</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The last person Hopper wanted to see was the only person who came into the small room after Evie was taken away. Mickey looked smug, sliding his hands into his pockets as he stared down at Hop, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he did so.<br/>
“Well, well, well, not so cocky now are we?”<br/>
“Managed to pull yours back out yet.” No man ever truly enjoyed watching another suffer injury to his most delicate area, but Hopper would be lying if he said he hadn’t felt proud of Evie when she sent Mickey to the ground clutching his crotch; Mickey had deserved it.</p><p>Referencing Mickey’s public humiliation did not make the unbound man happy in the slightest.  He leaned over the table, doing his best to look bigger and more intimidating than Hopper. He reminded the Chief of a little boy playing at being a man; nothing more than the personification of immature human emotions mimicking what he had seen other people do.<br/>
“They’re going to kill you, and I hope she’s around when they do.” Gone was the charismatic guy who tried to convince Evelyn that he was the best thing on the planet. Mickey was showing his true colours now when no one else was around. His eyes flickered with a wild, jealous rage, and his jaw was clenched so tightly he had to be hurting his own teeth doing it.<br/>
“I thought you loved her?” Hopper knew he never did. Evie had been a pretty trophy on his arm, a brain he could steal from, and – for a while – a quiet, reserved mouse of a woman who wouldn’t argue with him.<br/>
“Well if she sees your brain splattered across the walls maybe she’ll realise she should never have left me.” Hopper was beginning to realise why Mickey craved Evie so badly, and it was nothing to do with love.</p><p>She had been smarter than him. He had literally stolen from her to secure his place on a research team at the college. Without her, he had no answers. Hopper couldn’t be certain, but he had a strong feeling that Mickey discussed work with her, casually over dinner perhaps, and took whatever she said in response and turned into his own brilliant idea. She was the key to furthering his position without doing any of the work. When Evie had broken up with him, he suspected Mickey weaselled himself into conversations only when he needed her help. When she had left Milwaukee, she had taken that with her, rendering Mickey completely useless. Hopper wondered if in the few months since her absence those around him had noticed he wasn’t all he made himself out to be. </p><p>“Your girlfriend is spilling all her secrets back there, you know?” Mickey’s smirk was tight, and Hopper knew he was just trying to get under his skin. “It doesn’t take a lot to make her talk.”<br/>
“Not my girlfriend. And let’s not pretend that you know her.” Hopper might have been tied to a chair, but he wasn’t about to be frightened by this pathetic excuse of a fellow human being.<br/>
“And you do?” Mickey scoffed, leaning back with that same smug grin Hopper was keen to wipe from his face permanently. “If she’s not your girlfriend why are you here? Is she spreading her legs for anyone these days?”<br/>
Hopper lurched forward, standing up with the chair still attached to him. It was enough to startle Mickey who stumbled backwards towards the door he had left ajar. Hopper didn’t know if he’d done that carelessly or in case he needed to scream for help.<br/>
“Say that again. I dare you.” </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>The guard collapsing distracted Brenner and it was now or never for Evelyn. She tipped the dissection tables, sending metal and the Demogorgon’s corpse down on Brenner. Before he could respond she used the loose bandages to tie him to the table; not as securely as she would have liked to, but enough that he would be occupied for a while.<br/>
“Get back here.” He tried to command, but she skipped out of his reach and grabbed the gun from the fallen guard before hastily looting his pockets.<br/>
“And let you kill me? Nu-uh.” She sprinted towards the lab door, coming back only to turn off the gas taps before she jumped over Coleman’s unconscious form and pushed him to the side with the door as she opened it. </p><p>Her haste stopped there. As much as she knew she needed to move quickly, she didn’t risk drawing attention to herself with loud, hurried footsteps. Most of her movements were done on the tips of her toes, head turning in every direction as though she was expecting someone to slide out from the walls, or leap around a corner.<br/>
She retraced the steps she had been forced to make earlier, remembering each turn and every door until she came across the one that they had left Hopper behind. She paused, noticing the small gap between the frame and the door, hearing muffled voices inside. She was confused, but not surprised to hear Mickey’s voice mocking Hopper. </p><p>
  <i> “Are you guys sharing her out? Is she the police mascot, boosting morale amongst raising other things? I bet that’s all she can do in a shitty town like Hawkins. She came home and only had what everyone else threw away – their old, broken toys…” </i>
</p><p>In a life and death situation Evelyn was listening to her ex-boyfriend mock Hopper like they were teenagers fighting over a prom date. She slammed the door open and wielded the rifle like a baseball bat, smashing it into the side of Mickey’s skull. Startled by the sound behind him, he had already stumbled and found himself off balance, so the hit spun his head to the side as he fell, catching the table’s corner with his temple before bouncing to the floor, where he stayed motionless. A small trickle of blood flowed from his brow, over his high cheekbone.<br/>
“Evie?” Hopper turned around when she twisted him, feeling her hands against his as she fumbled with the key to the handcuffs. “How are you here?”<br/>
“Long story – not enough time – want this?” She offered him the gun knowing it would be far better in his hands than hers. She had never been comfortable around firearms.<br/>
Hopper paused, rubbing his chafed wrists, but took the gun from her, deciding he’d ask most of the questions running around in his head later, but one couldn’t be held until then.<br/>
“Did you tell them anything? About El?”<br/>
She looked up at him, breathless and wide eyed. “You know me better than that, Hop.”<br/>
And he did. If she was here now then she couldn’t – wouldn’t – have told them anything that would endanger El – or anyone else. People did a lot of things when they were under pressure but Hop knew Evie wasn’t one to sell other people out. It went against everything he knew about her. </p><p> </p><p>Before they left the room, Evelyn used the handcuffs from Hopper to restrain Mickey’s motionless body to the heavy metal table, looping his hands around one of the legs before locking the handcuffs and keeping the key in her pocket.<br/>
“We need to get back to Hawkins.” Evelyn said in a hushed, desperate voice. “They’ve been trying to open the gate remotely all this time.”<br/>
“What? How?”<br/>
“Probably the same way they made El can look for people.” She led the way, quickly navigating back to the staircase. “We didn’t really get into the nitty gritty of it all, but if El was Eleven then it makes sense that Brenner has more gifted individuals out there.”<br/>
Once you were on the top floor, you didn’t need a key-card to exit. The door could be opened from the inside, the heavy lock disengaging when she tried the cold handle. </p><p>The two of them jogged down the stairs, reaching the second floor before an alarm that sounded like every other fire alarm rang out.<br/>
“Want to bet this place isn’t on fire?” She asked sarcastically, pausing for only a second before she continued the hurried descent.<br/>
They ran out of the building, knocking an undergrad to the ground as they raced back to the Blazer, Hopper swearing as they got there.<br/>
“The keys!”<br/>
“Oh!” Evelyn fumbled with something and then tossed the familiar set of keys over the hood of the truck to him.<br/>
“How did you-“<br/>
“The guard never emptied his pockets.” She tugged at the handle and quickly climbed into the passenger seat, slamming the door and drawing the seatbelt over her. “I got this, too.” She arched forward so she could squeeze her hand between her back and the seat. When she relaxed again, she was holding Hopper’s pistol in the palm of her hand.<br/>
“You are incredible, Evie Carter.”</p><p> </p><p>The Blazer tore out of the parking lot before anyone could come after them, and Hopper’s plan was to put as much distance between them and Brenner as possible before they got back to Hawkins.<br/>
“Now will you tell me what happened?” He asked when they were at the city limits, a long road stretched ahead of them.<br/>
Evie sighed, slumping slightly in her seat as the adrenaline finally wore off. “They took me back to the Demogorgon. I pretended to lose my balance, bump into the lab bench. I acted like seeing it again shook me up, so I moved slowly, creeping towards it, but they couldn’t see my hands behind my back.” She smiled slightly, now actually able to appreciate the success of her plan for the first time. “I could just about reach the nozzle for the gas taps with my fingertips – each bench has four on – and they’re not so difficult to turn on or off; they only need a simple knock in the right direction.”<br/>
“So you turned them on?”<br/>
“Yeah. I thought I was done for when Coleman came in. I figured a regular scientist would notice them on.” She turned to look at Hopper as she explained her point further. “In my classroom, I don’t know how many kids over the years have tried to leave one on when the bell rang. But I notice them because – maybe because I’m used to teenagers thinking some prank is funny – but I can notice them across the room.”<br/>
“And you’re assuming every other scientist can, too.”<br/>
“It would make sense.” She pushed her knotty curls back from her face. “When I was in college you couldn’t leave the lab if you were the last one in it without doing a safety check and it included checking the gas taps.”<br/>
“And what happened?”<br/>
“I made sure to be as far away from them as possible – though it wasn’t far enough given the headache I’ve got now – but I kept Brenner talking until the gas knocked Coleman and the guard out. Brenner mustn’t have been as worked up as they were.” Now she was just saying her thoughts aloud, and Hopper didn’t know if she realised it. “Coleman was agitated when he came in, his breathing a little erratic. The guard was furthest back, but Brenner must have just kept calm – like me.” She had steadied her breathing, as slow as she could possibly make it while she was in that lab.<br/>
“Brenner didn’t pass out?”<br/>
“No. But he was distracted enough for me to flip the table and the body onto him and bind him with my bandages.”<br/>
Hopper glanced across, noticing now that her arm was uncovered, faint smears of fresh blood indicating that some of the scabbed wounds had cracked open during their escape.</p><p>Evelyn continued to talk, to tell him what Brenner had told her. Hopper listened, marginally breaking the speed limit as they raced back to Hawkins. He couldn’t begin to think of the carnage that would begin if they did open the gate again, and the new knowledge of there being a back door from The Upside Down to their world made him realise – confidently, for the first time – that this may never be over. It was a conclusion Evelyn had also reached, but hadn’t desired to say aloud yet, in the desperate hope that she would be wrong.</p><p> </p><p>Hopper made one stop on the way home and that was only because the truck needed more gas. Evelyn filled the tank and got them both bottles of water from the small store. Hopper used a payphone near the restrooms to call Joyce and let her know to be on her guard and that they were coming home. He spent the rest of his loose change making one more call, reading from the scrap of paper tucked in his wallet. </p><p>He met Evelyn back at the truck, where she handed him a bottle of water and some nappy rash ointment.<br/>
“For your wrists.” She explained before he could even ask. He had angry red bracelets around his wrists, something she had noticed hadn’t faded much since they left the city.<br/>
He was going to argue that he was fine, but it was sweet of her to think of him when her own arm must have been hurting. They didn’t have much time to waste, but he insisted on using the last of the bandages to re-wrap her arm, taking his time out of fear the exposure had made it more tender than before.<br/>
“What the hell was Mickey talking about before I clubbed him?” She asked suddenly as Hopper handed her the bottle of pain pills.<br/>
“What? Oh, nothing.” Hopper blew it off, focusing on keeping the dressing tight but not too tight. “He was just pissed that you were in a new relationship.”<br/>
“What?”<br/>
“He thought we were a thing and then when I told him we weren’t he seemed to think you…well, he didn’t think too kindly of you.”<br/>
“I did kick him in the balls.”<br/>
“Which he deserved.” Hopper added, briefly lifting his gaze from her arm to see her smile. “But when I mentioned Callahan-“<br/>
“Phil? Why?”<br/>
“He was boasting about himself and I figured it would annoy him to know what he basically lost out to.”<br/>
“What?”<br/>
“You know, because you and Callahan.”<br/>
“Oh. Right.” Evelyn looked out of the window, teeth closing lightly around her knuckles as Hopper finished bandaging her hand, not having a spare safety pin now. He tucked the material under, feeling her cool skin under his fingertips and hoped it would hold in place until they got home.</p><p>He pulled the Blazer back onto the road, heading towards the highway. Evelyn’s laughter suddenly pushed back the silence.<br/>
“What?” He asked, glancing at her with a furrowed brow.<br/>
“You know, for the Chief of Police you miss everything right under your nose.” She said between giggles, confusing him even more. Calming down, she turned to him with soft eyes and a wide smile. “Phil has been dating Sandra Moore for the last six months. He’s talking about proposing to her.”<br/>
“Sandra Moore? But, I thought-“<br/>
“That he was with me? No way!” Evelyn laughed again, shaking her head at the hapless Hopper. “Why did you even think that, Hop?”<br/>
“I saw you two – dancing that night you went out.”<br/>
Evelyn’s laugh almost made him forget the horrors they had just left behind and the danger they were driving into. It was light, melodious and made his heart jump a little. “Okay, so, story time. I never went to my senior prom. I had tonsillitis and spent the night feeling sorry for myself in bed while the most beautiful prom dress hung over my bedroom door.” She shook her head, looking out of the window as she recalled the distant memory. “Phil used to copy my work in class, but when he managed to pass because of it he promised me a dance at prom...which never happened because I was sick.”<br/>
“That was all he thought cheating off you was worth? A dance?”<br/>
She shot Hopper a lidded look, smirking as she quirked her eyebrow. “It’s Phil. If prom wasn’t coming up, he’d have probably bought a soda from a vending machine.”<br/>
Hopper shrugged in mild agreement, and Evelyn continued her story.<br/>
“So, we went out with a bunch of school friends – and Sandra – and everyone was sharing goofy stories about Phil to embarrass him. Nothing scandalous, just the dumb shit he did in school. The owed dance came up and he insisted on paying his debt.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “I was so drunk. I barely remembered it the next day until he filled in the blanks, but he told me I should probably not do any more tequila shots and that he’d take me home before I vomited on everyone at the end of the night.”<br/>
Everything suddenly made sense. Hopper could hear Callahan’s voice talking to Evie, saying those things to her. He wasn’t the smartest guy in Hawkins, but he was one of the good ones. He would have made sure Evie got home, checked on her the next day. Like she had said, they were friends.<br/>
“But why did Powell wish him luck when you went out?”<br/>
“Probably because Phil was bringing Sandra out with his old school buddies. We had all the juicy stories.”</p><p> </p><p>Silence fell in the car, Hopper working through this new – promising – information. He didn’t know what to say now, wondering if she would agree to give him another chance at dinner when all this was over. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking of love, or relationships, but he couldn’t help it. Maybe he had a chance at making up for his mistakes.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t believe you thought I was dating Phil.” Evie laughed, looking out of the window again. “He’s not even my type.”<br/>
“Then what is?” Hopper had asked the question before he could stop himself, glancing across at her for an answer.<br/>
Evie shrugged, humming softly. “I don’t know if I really have one.” She admitted, resting her head against her hand, bracing her elbow against the door. “A little rough around the edges maybe. Someone who can keep me on my toes – who challenges me to be better while driving me crazy. Blue eyes, a good heart, and I think a little older is what I need. Oh, and someone who isn’t going to be be driven away by mysterious scars.” She touched her bandaged arm with that last remark.<br/>
“He sounds like he might be a difficult man.” Hopper was telling himself that he was reading too much into things by thinking he fit that description. It was vague – probably fit plenty of men in Hawkins and outside of it.<br/>
“Maybe. But I think he might be worth it.” She turned back, and for a second their eyes met.<br/>
Neither were ready to acknowledge that brief look. It wasn’t the time, and there were so many other pressing matters to attend to, but for that short second they saw a glimpse of what could happen when this was all over and Hawkins was safe again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That last conversation in this chapter was one of the very first things I envisioned for this story and I have been so excited to write it!</p><p>Still a lot to come before this ride ends, but I hope you're all enjoying it - they're not out of the woods yet...</p><p>&lt;33</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Spray The Town Dead</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As soon as they were back on familiar roads with Hawkins in sight, Hopper and Evelyn began discussing the next stages of the plan. The back of the Blazer was still filled with looted property from the college and Hopper didn’t know what any of it was for or how it would help, but he trusted Evie more than he would trust most people who, in the last seventy-two hours, admitted to starting a fire in a science lab, gassing people in another lab, and who had used a rifle as a baseball bat. <br/>“From what we know now I think it’s safe to say the slime-mold is a remnant of wherever these residual tears are.” Evelyn said calmly, approaching it all like she might when lesson planning for her classes.<br/>“And they’re where portals to The Upside Down are?” Hopper asked for clarification, almost certain he understood what Evelyn had told him on the journey home, but not quite having the confidence to repeat it back to her.<br/>“Yes.” Evelyn said with a nod, trying to itch her palm through the thick layers of bandages. “Hopefully, if we treat the slime-mold like I did in the lab it will help repair those tears.” She wasn’t sure if it would work. If it was like most scar tissue it would always remain susceptible to further injury. It might be that there was no definite way to permanently protect Hawkins.<br/>“Okay. You can explain all that when we get back.” Finally, they were on Hawkins’ roads, Joyce’s house only minutes away.<br/>Evelyn grinned, looking out of the window, her heart swelling now they were home – at last.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn did explain “all that” once they were back at Joyce’s. Everyone sat around the dining table or leaned against the walls since there were more people than there were seats. She explained it all like she was teaching a class, keeping it as simple as she could while also highlighting the important bits. Unfortunately, Joyce only picked up on one bit; the bit Hopper and Evelyn had avoided talking about themselves.<br/>“Wait, so, this may never be over?” The fear in her eyes was the fear of a mother scared for her children. And Joyce had every right to be scared for Will, for the future he would have if Hawkins was always under threat.<br/>“No one is saying that, Joyce.” Hopper was leaning against the wall in the back of the room, smoking silently. He had heard all of this from Evelyn but hearing it a second time did little to settle his own anxieties. If Brenner was coming to Hawkins – and he most certainly would be now – El was in danger. He had asked Evie to keep Brenner’s name to herself for a little while longer, instead focusing her story on Coleman; the man Hopper had recognised to start with.<br/>“You’re not <i>not</i> saying it either.” Joyce looked at Evelyn, her pleading gaze catching her eye. “Are you?”<br/>“I-“ Evelyn swallowed and shook her head, giving her newest friend a tight smile. “I don’t know. None of us can know. But this is the best shot we have of closing them up.”<br/>“Why can’t El do it again?” Lucas asked. “She closed the gate.”<br/>“It’s too dangerous.” Hopper said quickly, ruling out any involvement from El. He didn’t want her roaming Hawkins when Brenner would be close by. <br/>El looked ready to protest, but he stepped out from the wall, crouching in front of her, cupping his hands under his chin as he thought about what he would say. “We need to keep you safe, kid. Brenner is alive, and he’s probably on his way here.”<br/>“Papa?” In just that one word, Evelyn heard El’s voice crack, her hand reaching for Mike’s on the scuffed wooden tabletop.<br/>“But he was dead.” Mike pointed out, squeezing her hand in his.<br/>“His scars are like mine. He was dragged away.” Evelyn shook her head. “I don’t know how or by who, but he has the same pattern. He was probably critically injured when he escaped, but he did escape, and he did recover.”<br/>“He doesn’t know you’re here.” Hopper pulled El’s attention back his way. “And we need it to stay that way to keep you safe.”<br/>“He thinks you ran away.” Evelyn added, not wanting to think about what would have happened if Hopper hadn’t found El, hadn’t taken her in as his own. <br/>“And because of that he has no reason to try and tear this town apart like last time.” Hopper explained, his eyebrows raising as he waited for El to understand. “He’ll probably only want to stop us from doing anything that harms his experiments.”<br/>“Which means he likely wants to kill you both!” Joyce exclaimed looking between Hopper and Evelyn. “You’ve thought about stopping anything else coming through, but what about protecting yourselves?”<br/>“I-I figured one step at a time.” Evelyn said after a short pause. </p><p>In truth, she had kept her mind focused on what she could do, on the things that had been in the truck and now needed combining. She had thought about fixing as much as they could before Brenner made it to town. She hadn’t thought at all about what would happen once he arrived.</p><p>“And how long until he’s here, huh?”<br/>“He won’t have been immediately behind us.” Hopper stated calmly, standing up again. “He would have needed to gather his team, contact his superiors-“<br/>“Assuming he has any.” Evelyn interrupted, her eyebrows raised. Despite knowing the horrors of MK-Ultra, she still struggled to accept that anyone would sanction that sort of research. She had fallen in love with science because of how it helped people, not hurt them.<br/>“The point is that we have time.” Hopper said, his eyes glancing around the room, searching for any doubt or uncertainty until his gaze found Evelyn’s. “And a lot to do.”<br/>“Can I use your shed, Joyce?”</p><p> </p><p>Tucked away in the shed, Evelyn didn’t get the privacy she had anticipated. Eager faces crowded in the doorway having followed the trolley of chemicals like mice followed cheese. <br/>“Move. Move. Move.” Hopper’s deep voice parted the kids and he sighed as he entered the musty construct. “These do you?” He held up the large plastic containers with hoses attached. Hopper had said there was something for street cleaning in storage at the station, and this was exactly the sort of thing Evelyn had been hoping for.<br/>“They are perfect! How many do you have?” Evelyn was hoping there was more than the two he carried.<br/>“Six in total. Jonathan and the Harrington kid are getting the other four.”<br/>“Perfect. This will be ready in no time.” This was probably the easy part. The difficulty would come when Brenner showed up. She didn’t have a chemical spray to slow him down. <br/>“Can we help?” Mike asked, peering back around the doorway.<br/>“I actually have something for you all to do very soon.” Evelyn promised, scribbling her original notes out again in clearer detail using the stub of a forgotten black crayon. <br/>Steve and Jonathan pushed through the small crowd with the rest of the containers, putting them around Hopper’s first two.<br/>“Ah, Steve. Stick around and help.”<br/>“Why me?” It wasn’t that Steve was reluctant to help, but of everyone gathered he felt like he had the least knowledge about what his teacher was doing, or about to do.<br/>“Because out of everyone here you’re the one who’ll benefit from extra credit the most.” She raised her eyebrows, silently asking if he had a problem with that.<br/>“Yeah. Sure.” Steve stepped forward, wiping his hands on his jeans. He knew his grades weren’t looking all that promising and while he was never one to ask for extra work, he wasn’t going to turn down a chance to do something about the perpetual slacking off in class.<br/>“Everyone else – with me.” Hopper didn’t particularly have anything for them to do, but he felt Evie would get this done faster if she didn’t have a gawping crowd serving as a distraction for the Harrington kid.</p><p>When the footsteps faded, Evelyn turned to Steve and handed him the notes. He looked them over, brow furrowing with the occasional nod.<br/>“You got it?” She unscrewed the lid of the first container but kept her eyes on her student.<br/>“So…two thirds this…this.” Steve picked up one of the large bottles after checking the label matched what Evelyn had written down. “And then this yellow bottle. And three cups of this – is this salt?” He asked, looking closer at the crystals inside the cloudy polythene bag.<br/>“No. It’s urea.”<br/>“What?! Isn’t that-”<br/>“In far more things than you could imagine.” Evelyn didn’t exactly cover the benefits and problems of urea in any classroom discussion, so she wasn’t all that surprised that a teenager didn’t know its many purposes. <br/>Steve looked horrified, but still accepted the rubber gloves normally used for washing the dishes when Evelyn offered them to him. <br/>“You’ll do fine, Steve.” And there was the reassuring tone he had come to know from his science teacher. The one that told him a pop quiz wasn’t the end of the world. </p><p> </p><p>Within the hour, Evelyn returned to the house with Steve in tow. He was wearing a pair of the new safety goggles to match the yellow gloves.<br/>“It might not be as cool as Ghost-busting, but I need some people to get rid of the slime-mold.” She announced, her eyes cast over the teenagers in the room.<br/>“We can do that.” Dustin offered; the feeling mutual between his friends who were eagerly turning to see what Evelyn had. <br/>“Pair off, cover as much of the town as possible and – Steve tells me you have walkie-talkies?” Six nods of affirmation brought a smile to her face. “Then keep in touch.”<br/>“What about El?” Mike asked, glancing at his girlfriend. “You said she needed to stay safe.”<br/>“El will stay here with Joyce.” Hopper said gently but firmly. No one argued. No one wanted to see her hurt or taken again. Even if she could look after herself most of the people in the room wanted to prove that they could protect her this time, after all the times she had done it for them. <br/>“Who’s with who?” Evelyn asked, holding up the first spray container. <br/>Mike and Will stepped forward, but before Evelyn handed them the chemical concoction, she handed them disposable gloves and safety goggles.<br/>“This stuff is strong. If it gets on your skin you will know about it.” She warned, passing the box of gloves around to everyone else. “Be careful where you’re spraying it. Try to keep it to the slime-mold, because this will likely kill off anything else.” Small patches of dead grass or bare earth was easy enough to explain away, but pathways of death would probably warrant a little more suspicion from the rest of the town. <br/>Lucas and Max took the next bottle, with Dustin grinning at Steve as he joined him. Nancy and Jonathan took the fourth which left two bottles spare. <br/>“What about those?” Nancy asked, nodding towards them.<br/>“Consider them emergency leftovers.” Evelyn said with a small smile. “This stuff spreads so someone might need more. Get in touch if you do and we can bring one out to you if it’s too far.”</p><p> </p><p>The kids left the Byers home, sharing the walkie-talkies out between them and leaving one with El. Evelyn could hear Mike taking charge, deciding where they would go first, letting the others pick afterwards.<br/>“Are they going to be okay?” Joyce asked, rubbing her neck and staring worriedly at her front door.<br/>“No one knows what they’re up to.” Evelyn explained, turning to her with a reassuring smile. “Brenner and his men won’t be scouting for people doing some weed control.” <br/>“It will just look like community work if anyone does see them.” Hopper added, having already made sure that Callahan and Powell knew he had roped some kids into doing some town maintenance to keep them out of trouble. Breadcrumbs of lies scattered here and there helped make it all more believable should anyone come asking questions. <br/>“So, what now?” Joyce asked putting her back to the door in the hopes it would disperse her worry.<br/>“Now I want to go and look at Hawkins lab again.” Hopper exhaled through his nose, glancing across at where El was left on the couch, cradling the walkie-talkie in her lap. “Evie, come with me. You might see something that I missed after your talk with Brenner.” He turned to Joyce. “Will you be okay here?”<br/>She nodded, though her confidence was a little shaky. “I’ll keep an ear out for if the kids need anymore of this.” She pointed at the last two containers, keeping her hands away though after Evelyn’s earlier warning.<br/>“It’s safe to transport, just wear gloves.” Evelyn promised, keeping back while Hopper went and had an almost whispered conversation with El. <br/>“What is it?” Joyce asked curiously.<br/>Evelyn smiled, shrugging lightly. She could get into the complex chemistry behind it all, explain how she worked out the correct formulae to make it as powerful as they needed it to be, but she was getting the hang of keeping it all so simple – breaking it down into everyday items that didn’t make it seem like there was a trans-dimensional threat in their small town.<br/>“A very strong weed killer.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, hope you enjoy! &lt;33</p><p>Next up, can a deserted lab be romantic?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. All The Things That Never Were</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hawkins lab was just as abandoned as it had been when Hopper had visited it the prior week. The dust was still settled, debris still littered certain areas, and all the doors were closed. If either of them looked close enough there was still the faint blood stains and smears from where the monsters had climbed through the year before, hunting and killing those who didn’t run fast enough. <br/>Evelyn stood in the middle of the large, derelict entrance hall. She knew Bob Newby had died in there the year before, but she didn’t know she stood only three short steps away from where Hopper had supervised the removal of his body when it was all over.<br/>“I used to want to work here.” She admitted quietly, Hopper turning to face her. He let the door to the stairwell go, slowly walking back to where Evelyn stood. Were those tears in her eyes? “Can you believe that?”<br/>“Yeah. You love science and not many towns can boast their own lab.” Hopper’s brow furrowed. He was worried about Evie; she didn’t look comfortable.<br/>“But this place did so many horrible things – and it was right on our doorstep.” She shook her head, lip trembling. “How could I have wanted to be a part of this?”<br/>“Hey.” Hopper took her arms in his hands, holding her gently. “You’re not like them – not at all. You would <i>never</i> have allowed what went on here to happen.”<br/>“But-“<br/>“No buts about it. You already outplayed Brenner, and you’d have done it again back then; I know it. Look at me, Evie.” He waited until she did so. “You’re a good person – one of the best, in fact. You are not like them. Understand?”<br/>She nodded, brushing away the tear hanging on the tip of her bottom lashes.<br/>“It – It’s just like finding out your heroes were the villains all along. Y’know?” She sniffed, composing herself again, knowing now was not the time to dwell on her old memories; they had a town to save. “Or that they were all cowards.” She added in a low mumble, realising that probably many of the staff here had just been too scared to do anything against their bosses or the powers that funded them. <br/>Hopper smiled sadly down at her, letting his fingers run down her arms before he let her go. “Yeah, I know.”</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn had been a part of student protests when she had been in college. She had fought back against the war, speaking for Joey and Charlie since they could not. Her friends might have seen her as meek and mild when she was buried in her grief, but Evelyn had been a girl who believed women belonged in the ever-growing science industry. She saw the future in technology, in moving away from the housewife role her mom had played oh-so-beautifully throughout the years. Evelyn had never been one to stay silent. She knew there were times her father and Frank wished she would, but even after her mother passed away she knew – deep down – that her fight would return when she was ready for it – when she needed it. By then she was teaching and surprisingly comfortable with it, making a difference in a smaller way than she had once dreamt of, but reaching more people on a more personal level. She may not be the woman who would find a treatment for some debilitating disease, or solve a mystery of the universe, but she might just guide the way for the kid who would.</p><p>While most kids dream of visiting Disney World, Evelyn had only ever wanted to see the inside of Hawkins National Lab. She would ride up to the perimeter on her bike, looking through the chain link as she wondered what exciting things were happening inside. She was imagining pristine white labs, miraculous discoveries and long, interesting debates over theories that were yet to be proved or disproved. At no point did a young Evelyn imagine humans pumped with psychedelics, electroshock therapy, and children being used as lab rats. She wondered now if she would have ever suspected anything if she hadn’t stayed away from Hawkins. Would she have sensed the evil within these walls? Or would she have been as oblivious to Martin Brenner’s brutal crimes like the rest of the town? Coming here now, knowing what she now knew, was like seeing a fallen kingdom cursed to be forgotten. And a part of her wished she could forget the horror stories she had heard about the place she once thought of as her own future.</p><p> </p><p>“This place never feels empty.” Hopper said, shining his flashlight into the abandoned rooms left in careless disarray.<br/>“Like there’s someone watching you.” Evelyn added, nodding her head as she followed close behind him. “I get that, too.”<br/>They continued in silence, checking the darkened rooms and silent hallways for any signs of disturbance. Their footsteps echoed, and the only light came from the beam of Hopper’s flashlight.  <br/>“It pisses me off to think that this could have been a place of greatness.” Evelyn said, her voice tight as she fought to control her feelings. “And now it’s just a haunting reminder of something out of a bad Lovecraftian story.” How many people had died here and been forgotten? Nancy had been detailed in her story of Barb and it seemed like the plan from the lab was originally just to pretend nothing had happened. Had there been others like her? Like Terry Ives? Those who had just signed up to help their country and ended up disposed of in some hole to be forgotten about? <br/>“You okay?” Hopper’s voice snatched her back from the dark thoughts that had been closing in. “You’re thinking so hard I can almost hear it.”<br/>“I’m just so angry.” She confessed, running her fingers over the dented doorframe to one lab. “Coming here just…It just makes me mad to know how close all those tests were to home. And how they never really stopped until last year.”<br/>“I’m sorry.”<br/>“For what? You weren’t drugging people or using kids as research projects.”<br/>“But I brought you here.” Hopper hadn’t wanted to upset Evie. He hadn’t even thought about how she might react at the lab. He had just thought she might see something he didn’t, and it would be just like their trip to Milwaukee; a trip dictated by logic and reason. At no point had he paused to consider Hawkins lab might mean something to her.<br/>She shrugged, flicking her gaze up towards him. “Hey, I didn’t even know this place would get under my skin so badly.” She didn’t blame him. It wasn’t Hopper she was mad at, but Brenner. Part of her was hoping that he’d show his face in town so that she could tell him as much. </p><p> </p><p>When they reached the deepest part of the lab – where the gate had once manifested – Evelyn didn’t need any explanation. The large, empty room seemed to tell its own story. Hopper watched as she walked ahead of him, down the metal walkway and towards the smooth concrete wall. She pressed her palms against it, almost like she was testing it was study enough, and glanced back at Hopper.<br/>“Is it weird that I can feel it?”<br/>“Feel what?”<br/>“Like an energy. Like the way you can feel the storm before it’s here.” She looked back at the wall, spreading her fingers wide as she tried to feel more of it – to make sure it wasn’t just in her mind.<br/>“Will can sense when something is coming.” Hopper explained, walking slowly towards Evelyn with his brow furrowed. “It was the big thing, the one that possessed him. He gets these chills when something is wrong. Something…unnatural.” He reached Evelyn and reached for her arm, his thick fingers closing gently over the bandaged wounds. “Maybe after you were attacked there was a connection formed.” He didn’t like the idea of it, his thoughts instantly racing back to when Will had been forced to sweat out the monster inside of him, when he had been used to bring all the creatures through. “Do you feel okay?” Hopper asked, seriously concerned something sinister was happening to Evie.<br/>“Yeah. I feel fine. It’s just…a nightclub.” She looked up at him, turning into his hold without realising he was still touching her arm. “You know when you’re outside of one, but you can feel the vibrations of the music? It’s like that.”<br/>“New York had plenty of those.” Hopper scoffed remembering all too well being called to them for a drunken brawl. <br/>“You never talk about New York much.” Evelyn said softly, watching as his hand slowly traced down her wrist, their fingers intertwining for a moment before Hopper stepped away with a sigh. <br/>“I don’t have too many good memories of it.”<br/>“Is that why you came home?” She started to follow him back up the walkway, her eyes fixed on him as they moved slowly.<br/>“Yeah.” He sighed again, shaking his head and turning back to Evelyn. “There was one good thing about New York; Sara.”</p><p> If the look in the truck had been any indication of their future, then Hop didn’t want to go into that with secrets from his past. They were painful, but Evie already held so many pieces of his past that it only felt right to give her the rest – to let her complete the puzzle and decide if she wanted to fit into it. <br/>“Sara?”<br/>“Sara is – <i>was</i> – my girl.” His heart ached just like it always did when he talked about Sara. Since El it had been a little easier, but ultimately that pain was always there, and it would always be there. Hopper was able to accept that now. And he could accept it without pills, or one-night stands. They had never really helped in the first place, but he’d been too lost to notice it. <br/>“Jim…”<br/>“I’m okay. I lost her – oh boy – six years ago. Feels like yesterday sometimes.” He leaned against the cold railing, his fingers laced together. He couldn’t look at Evie. He didn’t want to see the sympathy in her eyes, the pity that so many others threw his way when Sara was mentioned or even just thought of. “She was sick. Doctors couldn’t help her in the end.” He felt Evie’s warm touch on his arm and for the first time in a very long time he didn’t shake off that human connection; one he had been scared of after Sara’s death and the divorce. <br/>“You came home.”<br/>“Yeah. I…I guess the marriage to Diane was over long before the end. We put on happy faces for Sara, kept playing the part when she was in hospital, but I couldn’t be there for her; not how she wanted me to be.” He remembered crying in the stairwell – alone – unable to keep playing the strong man anymore. “I was fucked up.”<br/>“Grief does that to a person.” Evelyn said gently, not judging him in the slightest. <br/>“I barely did my job here. I just numbed the pain however I could until…until Will Byers went missing. That was the wake up call I needed.”<br/>“And then you found El.”<br/>“Yeah. She was my anchor to stop me slipping back into old nasty habits.” He smiled slightly, thinking back to how awkward and yet comforting adjusting to life with El had been. “Not that everyone round here has let me forget them.”<br/>“Yeah, well, Marissa is a cranky bitch.” Her response was unexpected, and it pulled a deep laugh from Hopper. He was thankful she had offered her condolences or fussed over him. She had given him exactly what he needed; a reminder that he was alive despite the pain.<br/>“Remind me to thank El someday.” Evelyn smiled, her remark causing Hopper to look her way with confusion in his soft eyes. “Hawkins wouldn’t be home without you. Without our lunches and reminiscing-“<br/>“Without me standing you up for dinner?” He arched a brow and was relieved when Evie laughed.<br/>“Well, I’m sure you can make that up to me.”<br/>“I can?”<br/>“Yeah. I’m pretty certain I’ll be hungry when this is over.”<br/>His heart began to beat a little faster, a heat radiating inside his chest from the coy smirk she was sporting. “Enzo’s?”<br/>“Sure. But I’ll meet you beforehand, just in case.”<br/>“Fool me once…?”<br/>“Exactly.” She laughed lightly, her fingers moving to his, sliding between them like they belonged there. “But I mean it Hop. You made coming home easy.”<br/>Their smiles faded slowly; their gazes fixed on the other. Hop squeezed her hand in his, not even realising he had done so. He wanted to lean over, to turn her from the railing into his chest. He wanted to kiss her, and he was almost certain he saw her eyes dart to his lips as they began to tingle. <br/>“Jim…” His name escaped on a breath, her arm warm and flush against his.<br/>He leaned down, forgetting the impending threat to the town as all he could think about was Evie; about kissing her, tasting her, making her say his name just like that again.</p><p>The radio crackled, a loud static clearing the silence before the unmistakable voice of a panicked Dustin filled the large, deserted room.<br/><i>”This is a code red – I repeat – A code red! The bad men are here!”</i></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This should have gone up yesterday, but I had a minor accident and ended up spaced out on painkillers and was in no state to edit!</p><p>Anyway. I'm going to run before the pitchforks and torches chase me down over that ending! &lt;33</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Best Laid Plans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The anxious voice disturbed the almost-moment, making it seem like it had never existed at all. Hopper still held Evie’s hand though as he moved away from the railing, tugging her along as he reached for the radio.<br/>
“Talk to me, kid.”<br/>
Evelyn jogged to keep up, startled at the sudden movement. Hopper kept his fingers intertwined around hers, but it was as if he didn’t know he held them. He moved quickly, with fierce purpose and his long strides were two of Evelyn’s usual fast steps. She was jogging to keep up, her fingers finally released back to her when Hopper had to reach for the door handle.<br/>
<i> “A whole bunch of cars and men in suits have just pulled into town.” </i><br/>
“Where in town?” Hopper ushered Evelyn through the door, encouraging her to go ahead of him down the long, dark corridor. She took the flashlight from him first since the idea of falling over some forgotten equipment didn’t appeal to her; she was bashed up enough already.<br/>
<i> “They parked up between the cemetery and the police station.”</i> The radio crackled, Dustin’s voice becoming garbled. <i> “-spreading out.”</i><br/>
“Shit.”</p><p>Evelyn didn’t need an explanation for that. If they were spreading out across Hawkins then it meant there was no way to know what their ultimate goal was. Not to mention everyone currently destroying the slime-mold was at risk of being discovered. It was one thing to be able to lie to the townsfolk who didn’t know about the darker side of their hometown, but it was something else entirely to believe they could fool the shady government employees who had started all of this in the first place; the men and women who saw nothing wrong with using a child and messing with things usually reserved for horror movies and haunted campfire tales. </p><p>“We can draw them here.” She suggested, jogging to the nearest window to try and see if the Blazer was still alone in the parking lot. It was – for now.<br/>
“And what?” Hopper asked, radio held at his side. “We don’t have anything here to use against them.”<br/>
“Did the power get cut off when the lab shut down?” Her mind was racing through a rolodex of ideas, trying to find one that would work, one that wasn’t quite as reckless as the others.<br/>
“I…” Hopper reached for the light switch, flicking it once, and then rapidly as if to just make sure the lights definitely weren’t coming on. “Yeah.”<br/>
“Is there a basement?”<br/>
“Sure there is.” His eyes narrowed, catching her gaze as she hurried back across the room. “What are you thinking?”<br/>
“I don’t know just yet.” She was racing to the stairwell and it was Hopper’s turn to jog to keep up. “But I want to know what I have to work with.” Her thoughts kept circling back to what she knew about this place, about the fire that had been used to destroy the vines and hurt The Upside Down. But fire was nothing without an accelerant or a steady source. A flame dropped here would simply extinguish. </p><p> </p><p>Hopper followed her down to the basement, reaching out to still her before she pushed open the heavy metal door to the lowest level. It was pitch black in the basement, and he wasn’t about to let Evie run into the darkness when it was the one place they hadn’t checked yet. The door opened silently – just like so many of the others – and she shone the flashlight under his arm to light up the path. Structural columns made shadowy mazes, and large cylindrical containers stood and lay on the ground. Evelyn nudged her way past Hopper and raced over to them, reading the gauges and checking the tubing connected to three of the seven metal cannisters.<br/>
“Fuck!”<br/>
“What?”<br/>
“They’re empty.” She turned around, shoulders low. “I was hoping the gas was still connected. We could’ve blown this place to kingdom come.” She flashed a weak smile and walked back to Hopper. “There’s nothing here but a potential front door to a monster we don’t even understand.”<br/>
Hopper had never considered destroying Hawkins Lab completely, and yet the idea of burning it to the ground was one he could have easily gotten behind if it would have worked. Which was why the next sentence out of his mouth went against the law and order he tried to uphold in the town.<br/>
“Would the schools have a gas supply?”<br/>
Evelyn looked up at him, wide eyed and nodded. “Sure. We need it for chemistry.”<br/>
“Is it easy to move?”<br/>
She realised now what he was hinting at, her weight shifting from one foot to the other. “Maybe?” She sighed, closing her fist around her curls, shining the light back over the dust covered, useless installation. “I’ve never set one of these up before. The most I’ve ever done is turned the gas flow on and off.” She tried to figure it out, following the metal pipes up and down the basement wall. “And the connectors in the schools might not match what they had here. I imagine these are much larger to what Hawkins affords for the kids.”<br/>
Evelyn had only once looked in the small room-slash-cabinet where the gas cannisters were contained at the high school. She hadn’t had a reason to go messing around in there yet, and she wasn’t sure if she ever would or if that was someone else’s responsibility.<br/>
“But if we bring it here it can still explode, right?”<br/>
“Yeah.” Her heart was racing. Were they really talking about stealing from the schools and blowing up a National Lab?<br/>
“Then let’s go before someone finds their way here and we’re stuck playing hide and seek.” Hopper turned back towards the door and Evelyn was hot on his heels.<br/>
“Wait! Wait!” He stopped, turning back around so abruptly that she almost collided with his chest. “I’ve missed three days of classes. I can’t just waltz in there with no explanation.” Evelyn hadn’t even begun to think of how she’d explain her absence. Teaching had been the last thing on her mind since she had been attacked.<br/>
“But it’s – “ Hopper looked at his watch, squinting in the dim light to make out the time. “It’s eight at night. No one will be there.”<br/>
“You’d think. But the janitor sometimes cleans up late and if there’s been a basketball practice or, or a faculty meeting…” Evelyn trailed off on a sigh. “I probably don’t even have a job anymore. I shouldn’t be worried about that.”</p><p>Hopper swallowed, letting his own breath out slowly. He put his arm around Evelyn’s narrow shoulders, guiding her gently towards the door.<br/>
“Hey, I promise I’ll fix that.” He felt responsible, for not thinking about her position in the town when they were racing away from Hawkins. He usually prided himself on covering all the bases, but this was one he’d totally overlooked. Evelyn loved teaching – he knew that – and he didn’t think she’d be happy here if she wasn’t doing that.<br/>
“Chief of Police can probably fix a lot of things, but this one may be outside your jurisdiction.” She joked sadly, wondering if there was any excuse in the world capable of earning her a second shot at teaching in Hawkins High School.</p><p>Silently, they made their way outside, constantly vigilant of any movement towards the lab. The Blazer was still the only vehicle in the parking lot, and Hopper hoped to make sure it stayed that way. He took the time to padlock the gate after they drove through it, leaving Evelyn in the truck to watch the road ahead. It was silent – eerily silent – and she wondered if it was always like this or just felt it because of the looming threat she expected to manifest in the form of bright headlights careening towards them.<br/>
Nothing came, and the only thing that started her was Hopper climbing back in the truck; somehow, she had managed to forget that she had been waiting on him this entire time.</p><p>The radio crackled to life and Hopper passed it to Evie as he started the truck up again.<br/>
<i> “Hey, anybody. We’re out at the junkyard, but it’s getting too dark to see anything. We think we’ve got all the slime-mold, but it’s hard to tell.”</i> Mike’s voice spluttered in and out.<br/>
Evelyn pressed the button on the side of the walkie-talkie and spoke loudly and clearly, making Hopper smirk a little. He found it adorable. “That’s fine – the slime-mould can be dealt with in the daylight if we need to. For now, everyone get to the high school.”<br/>
“Everyone?” Hopper asked, quirking his eyebrow at her.<br/>
“We’re probably going to need the extra hands – especially if we need to do both Hawkins High and Hawkins Middle.” She wasn’t sure if the middle school had any gas to steal, but it was worth a look all the same.</p><p> </p><p>It felt strange, driving towards Hawkins High. The school represented everything Evelyn considered normal, and now she was about to corrupt that. It was the last thing in this town that she called hers that hadn’t felt tarnished by the dark truth. Her cabin had been smashed up, strangers walking in her private space, Hopper had been a keeper of the unfathomable secret long before she came home and their conversations since Monday had been threaded with talk of monsters and government sanctioned experiments. It felt like nothing would be normal again. If she did get her job back when the school would always be a place she broke into to steal supplies to blow somewhere else up. Evelyn had never been the rebellious type. Sure, she had done a few things as a teenager that her parents would never have approved of, but she was sure every kid could say the same. Nothing she had done though could have given her a criminal record. In the last three days that had changed tenfold; she had multiple counts of assault, blackmail, potentially attempted murder, and now she was about to add breaking and entering and theft to that list of charges, not to mention the arson they were planning like a Saturday night date. It really was a good thing that the Chief of Police had been by her side for almost all of it. She wasn’t sure how she could explain any of it without him.</p><p> </p><p>The school was in darkness when they approached. Hopper parked the Blazer far enough back that the night concealed it from the main street. They climbed out of the truck just as Dustin and Steve came running over.<br/>
“They’re everywhere, man.” Steve panted, resting his hands on his thighs for stability as he doubled over.<br/>
“Looks like they’re doing door-to-door enquiries.” Dustin added, equally as breathless.<br/>
“What could they be looking for?” Evelyn asked, turning to Hopper who was peering out into the night to make sure they were completely alone right now.<br/>
“No idea.” He answered, though his heart was beating anxiously. He had every faith in Joyce, that she would keep El safe. He also knew that his adopted daughter was a force to be reckoned with, but he still didn’t want her chance at a normal future to be threatened by the man who had ruined her life to begin with.<br/>
“Why are we here?” Steve asked, standing upright now he had caught his breath.<br/>
“How many times have you ever thought about breaking into the school?” Evelyn asked, earning her a wide eyed, eyebrows raised look from both boys. “And stealing from it?”<br/>
“What?!”<br/>
“Is this extra credit, too?” Steve swallowed, not entirely sure if her question had a right answer.<br/>
“Steve, if we pull all of this off – and if I have any say in the final grades – I promise you’ll have passed my class.” Maybe it was a little unethical but given all that these kids had done it would be ridiculous not to be slightly lenient on them when it came to grading – so long as they never mentioned it to anyone, ever.<br/>
“C’mon.” Hopper guided them to the door, concealing his actions as he jimmied the door open.<br/>
“Should someone wait for the others?” Dustin was staring out into the darkness, looking for a sign his friends were nearby.<br/>
“Yeah, good thinking. You wait here and send them in – science classrooms, alright?” Evelyn said, resting her hands on Dustin’s shoulders until he nodded convincingly. “And if anyone but the others come this way, get your ass inside.” He nodded again.<br/>
“Let’s go.” Steve slipped through the door behind Hopper and before Evelyn stumbling slightly in the darkness.</p><p>They made their way to the science rooms in the dark, Evelyn taking the lead to guide them to the supply office where all the science equipment was stored. The gas cupboard was down the end of it, entirely missable if you weren’t looking for it. She prised it open and Hopper shone the flashlight over her shoulder.<br/>
“They are much smaller than the lab.” He acknowledged, considering the skinny-by-comparison tanks.<br/>
“Yeah. I doubt these will hook up to the fixings there, but they can still cause an explosion.”<br/>
“Wait. Explosion?! Just what are we doing here?” Steve peeked over her other shoulder but looked between his teacher and the chief for an answer.<br/>
“Don’t worry about it. Just get ready to carry these to the truck.”<br/>
The door opened, hitting the wall and making everyone jump. Hopper reached for his gun, shining the light directly in the face of the intruder.<br/>
“Whoa. Hey. It’s just us.” Jonathan Byers held his hands up and Nancy squealed from behind him.<br/>
“Jesus. Did you have to give us a heart attack?” Steve clutched his chest, slouching against the desk beside the cupboard.<br/>
“What are we doing in here?” Nancy walked forward, looking between them all.<br/>
“Oh. Y’know, just getting ready to blow something up.”<br/>
“What?!” Jonathan and Nancy shouted in unison.<br/>
“Shh!” Evelyn scolded, turning her attention back to the gas cannisters and guiding Hopper’s hand to shine the light where she needed it to be. “Keep it down.”<br/>
“What are we blowing up?” Jonathan asked, nervously looking around as Evelyn shut off the gas supply entirely.<br/>
“Not the school. You’re still sitting finals.” She groaned; her grip wasn’t strong enough to release the connector from the pipes. Hopper immediately leaned over her, passing her the flashlight as she found herself trapped between his arms.<br/>
“Got it.” He grunted, loosening the fastener on each of the three cannisters.<br/>
Evelyn pulled one out and handed it to an unready Steve who grappled with it for a moment before settling under the heavy weight.<br/>
“Take them to the truck.” She handed the next one to Jonathan and then checked with Nancy before passing out the third “You okay with it?”<br/>
“Yeah, I got it.” She looked less comfortable than the boys, but Evelyn knew Nancy Wheeler was not the type of girl to be outshined by them. It might take her a little longer, and her arms might ache more, but she’d get the gas to the truck. </p><p>With the teenagers out of the room, Evelyn set about closing up the cabinet. She could feel Hopper close behind her, the heat radiating from him. Just as she pulled the bolt back across the door, she froze. She sensed Hopper tense up too, sliding closer to her.<br/>
There were voices in the school – and they weren’t the voices of kids. These were deep, gruff, barking orders and coming from different directions.<br/>
The realisation hit Hopper and Evelyn at the same time.<br/>
There was no way out without alerting the strangers to their presence.<br/>
They were trapped.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Let the chaos ensue!<br/>I think the next few parts may skip between the characters to fill in everything that's going to happen. Otherwise it'll be a vague conversation at an awkward moment to make sense of it all. </p><p>Also, did any of you realise Evie's actually been AWOL from work for a chunk of the week? ...Oops.</p><p>&lt;33</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Home Sweet Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We need to get out of here.” Evelyn whispered, squeezing by Hopper to peer carefully through the small glass window in the door. She couldn’t see anyone close by, but the voices and footsteps did appear to be coming towards them. <br/>“What could they want here?” Hopper asked, turning off the flashlight and copying Evelyn’s cautious movements, his chest not quite flush against her back. She could smell smoke, sweat and dirt on him, but she doubted she smelt much better in comparison. In an end-of-the-world scale threat personal hygiene was forced to take a backseat. <br/>“Could they be looking for me?” She turned to gaze up at Hop. “It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out where I worked.” With only two schools in Hawkins and her speciality being high school science, it seemed impossible that someone wouldn’t know where she worked. </p><p>Plus, when leaving Milwaukee, she hadn’t exactly kept it a secret. She had been lucky to come home just as there was an opening in the faculty for her exact area of knowledge. It was the sort of thing worth celebrating, worth shouting from the rooftops. Her old co-workers had understood that finding the perfect teaching position was far from easy, and Evelyn hadn’t been quiet about the handful of years she had been a substitute because there were no jobs available, or the ones that she had come across had been handed to teachers with more experience. Many colleagues had shared her plight, knew that it wasn’t easy. She recalled the history teacher telling her it was a “sign” that she was supposed to go home. Another had joked that Hawkins High had been waiting just for her. They had all known where she was going, what she was doing – as did her former neighbours and old friends.</p><p>“If they were, where else would they go?” Hopper pulled Evelyn back from the door, but stood in a spot that meant he could still see the corner of the hallway through the glass; he wanted to know if anyone was coming their way and when.<br/>“Uh, my house, I guess, but they know that’s a mess.” She didn’t want to think about what state the small cabin would be in by the time she got back to it. She expected half of the surround woods to have been swept in on a cold evening breeze. “Oh.”<br/>“What?”<br/>“My dad.” <br/>With everything that had happened in the last few days, Evelyn hadn’t spared a thought for Reg Carter. He had been on his own for a long time now, with neighbours who disliked him but would ultimately look out for him. She hadn’t considered that he might be dragged into this through her. Her dad was unpredictable. There was no way of knowing how he’d act or what he might say if shady government officials came knocking on his door looking for his only daughter – and Evelyn knew what they had done in the past to innocent people like Benny who had been caught up in their mess and only tried to do the right thing.<br/>“What if they-“<br/>“We’ll go and check on him as soon as we’re out of here, I promise.” Hopper could see the worry in her eyes, the line in her brow that rarely appeared. <br/>Even if Evelyn wasn’t the closest a daughter could be with her father, he knew she still cared for the stubborn old man and that she had been though enough loss to not want to go through it again so soon. Taking five minutes to go and see Reg, to settle her anxiety, would be fine. They could afford that.</p><p> </p><p>A light shone down the hall and Hopper pulled Evie to the side where he pressed her against the cool wall. He stood beside her, arm across her midriff as he held her still. Footsteps approached, and a soft hum that sounded a lot like the new Coca-Cola commercial followed. A shadow passed across the door, the silhouette of a tall man falling across the glass. Evelyn held her breath, hoping he wouldn’t try the door – but he did. The doorknob rattled quietly when he took hold of it, a loose screw on the outside the culprit of the giveaway sound. It clicked when he twisted it, cracking it open an inch. She felt Hopper tensing up beside her, his hand drawing back across her stomach as he moved to grab his gun from his belt.<br/>“Hey! Over here – Think we’ve got something!”<br/>The door thudded shut, the man walking back the way he came. Evelyn and Hopper both let out a sigh of relief, muscles relaxing as the footsteps faded back into the darkness of the hallway.<br/>“Quick, let’s get out of here.” Hopper pressed his hand into the small of Evie’s back, encouraging her to move forward.<br/>Before they left the room though, she stopped and grabbed a thin, bolted rod that would normally be used to hold the lab equipment in place during a complex chemical reaction.<br/>“It’s better than nothing.” She said with a shrug, peering around the edge of the door before running on her toes towards the exit.<br/>Hopper was right behind her, glancing back to make sure no one was coming. She leaned into the push bar, careful not to slam the metal into the wooden door and poked her head outside to check that the coast was clear. They must have parked near the main entrance of the school because this part of the lot was silent and empty.<br/>“Where are the kids?” Evelyn hissed as Hopper gently closed the door, doing his best to eliminate any echo of the lock catching again.<br/>She jumped, slamming her hand over her mouth as Steve and Dustin tumbled out from behind a dumpster, Steve glaring at Dustin as he regained his balance.<br/>“They walked the perimeter.” Dustin explained hastily. “I had no time to let you know – sorry.”<br/>“Where’s everyone else?” Hopper asked, standing next to Evelyn.<br/>“As soon as Mike saw the men he took off back to Mrs Byers. Said he wanted to check on El. Jonathan and Nancy went with them.” Steve told them, hands resting on his hips. To Evelyn, it seemed like he had tried to wrangle the younger teens but gave up when love insisted. She had heard the stories, she knew how many times he had tried to be responsible and take charge only for them to have a better idea. If she wasn’t so anxious right now, with her heart still racing, she might have been amused by this repeating pattern of events.<br/>“Go back there yourselves.” Hopper instructed them. “We’ll handle the rest here.”<br/>If they were going to be in danger then hopefully Hopper could limit those at risk to himself and Evie. If not, and if Brenner’s men did search as far out at Joyce’s place then at least everyone would be together and that would make it easier for them to look out for each other. <br/>They didn’t need telling twice, with Dustin tapping Steve on the arm and tilting his head in the direction of “Mirkwood”.</p><p>“We need to check the middle school.” Evelyn said quietly as she followed Hopper back to the Blazer.<br/>“After we check on your dad.” Hopper climbed into the truck and looked at the dashboard, not really reading the gauges and needles, but using them as a distraction while he gathered his thoughts. “Does he still have the Mustang?”<br/>“He should have. Why?” Evelyn kept a look out of the window as Hopper edged the truck out of the parking space.<br/>“We may be a little more discreet if we weren’t driving around in a car emblazoned with Hawkins Police Department.”<br/>It was a reasonable point, one that made perfect sense in a small town where only one person could possibly be behind the wheel of this particular truck. There was just one problem.<br/>“You expect my dad to hand over the keys to the ‘Stang?” Evelyn scoffed at the idea. “He wouldn’t let any of us drive his car besides Joey.”<br/>“Well maybe we don’t tell him.”<br/>The thought of that deception brought a nervous laugh to Evelyn’s lips. She had never been a rebellious person. The closest she had come to such a thing had been her brief relationship with Stevie Mack, but that had been three weeks of secret kisses and backseat fumbling that her family never found out about. She had smoked a cigarette with him and decided almost instantly that they weren’t her thing and when he wanted her to blow off school more she had called quits on it. No man – no person at all for that matter – was going to come in the way of her education.</p><p> </p><p>The childhood home of Evelyn Carter stood on the corner of Maple and Dearborn. It was the last house on the right side of the street. Growing up, the front yard had always been maintained to a perfect standard, with short, neat grass and flowers along the edge of the lawn. Now it was slightly more overgrown, but still blended neatly into the rest of the neighbourhood. The flowers had been replaced with bushes and plants that required less care and attention. Nothing about the house stood out at first; it’s brickwork and white panelling were clean, save for a small patch of ivy that was creeping its way up the side of the house, curling around the front and stretching towards the gutter. The blinds and curtains of the house were all the same white shade, even if they were different in styles from window to window. The front door, a bright blue as per her mother’s request was the only thing that stood out; not because of its colour, but because it was open.</p><p>Evelyn jumped out of the truck before Hopper could kill the engine. She pushed the front door open wider and with such force that it smacked back into the cheery yellow walls of the hallway, the pictures hanging on the wall shaking with the intensity. Thankfully none of them fell.<br/>“Dad?!” She opened every door, spinning from the lounge to the dining room, and then shoving through the double doors into the kitchen. “Dad?!” She called again, desperate to hear his grumpy, perpetually frustrated voice.<br/>Hopper was behind her, moving slower through the house, his eyes looking out for anything suspicious. He knew Reg Carter wasn’t the type to leave his front door open, especially not at night. What he wanted to know though was if Brenner’s men had left anything behind. He knew they weren’t afraid to bug locations, and after knowing that they had somehow intercepted Evie’s original call to the station about the “bear” he had his suspicions they were still playing their little spy games.<br/>“Dad!” The rhythmic pattern of Evie’s calls was broken by a shrill cry, a near screech.<br/>Hopper stopped searching for suspicious signs and rushed after the panicked voice. </p><p>There had been a den of Reg Carter’s that Hopper recalled from his youth. Joey said it was the one place in the house none of the kids were allowed it. It was situated off the back of the dining room, an extension built onto the original home once the family began to grow. It was that room in which Hopper found himself standing – standing over the still body of Reg Carter.<br/>“He’s alive.” Evelyn confirmed, tears swelling in her eyes as she checked her father over for any injuries that weren’t obvious.<br/>A sticky stream of blood had formed a small clotted pool beside his head. It was difficult to tell if he had been bludgeoned or had hit his head off the mahogany desk he lay beside. There was no doubt that he had been attacked though. The den was in disarray and for all his faults Reg Carter was not an untidy man. Papers had their place and that place was not the floor. By his hand was a revolver, a weapon Evelyn knew her father had but had only seen twice in her life before tonight.<br/>“I’ll get someone out here to help.” Hopper wanted to stay with Evelyn, but if he did that then there was no one to stop Brenner. <br/>She nodded, pulling the coat down her arms and bundling it up to place under her father’s head. Hopper stepped out of the den to make the call, also searching for the car keys so he could go ahead with his plan to switch the truck for something less conspicuous. </p><p>He paused at the phone on the wall of the kitchen. Was it safe to call 911 without alerting people to their location? He didn’t want to leave the Carter home and leave Evelyn to fight off the men who might come looking for her. With a long sigh and crossed fingers, he called Callahan. Hopefully, his friendship with Evie would stop him asking too many questions – if he’d ever pick up his damn phone.<br/><i>”’lo.”</i> <br/>“Callahan – I need you to call for an ambulance to Reg Carter’s house, and then-“<br/><i>”Chief? Is that you?”</i><br/>“Yeah, it is. Look-“<br/><i>”Where have you been?”</i><br/>“Callahan! There’s no time right now! Reg Carter is hurt, he needs medical attention, but I can’t stick around here and Evie shouldn’t be on her own. Got it?”<br/><i>”Uh, yeah. Sure. I’m on my way.”</i><br/>As he put the phone back in the cradle, Hopper spotted the small bundle of keys in a bowl on the kitchen counter. He grabbed them, moving back through to the den to check on Evie, and to make sure she wouldn’t mind him still switching the cars out. <br/>He caught her wiping the tears from her cheek as he came back in.<br/>“Hey. You okay?”<br/>She nodded, pushing herself to her feet to face Hopper. She’d draped a quilted blanket over her dad’s body, tucking it up under his chin. <br/>“Callahan is on his way with some help. Is it okay if I still take the mustang?” He flashed her the keys in his palm.<br/>“Yeah. Just don’t forget to move the gas cannisters first.” Her voice was thick from crying.<br/>“I won’t.” Hopper reached out and pulled Evie into his chest. “He’ll be okay.” He whispered into her hair, feeling her nod back against his shoulder as she hugged him tight.<br/>“I know he will.”</p><p>Evelyn was mad. Beneath the tears and the fear of losing another family member she was pissed. Her dad may have been cold, but she felt hot, feverish even. How <i>dare</i> they come after her family! How <i>dare</i> they hurt someone innocent in all of this just to get to her! This was nothing less than a threat, and Evelyn was not the type of person to take that laying down. Maybe a few years ago it would have been different, but she wasn’t that same woman anymore. Now, she was happy with herself, knew what she wanted and she had decided when she left Milwaukee that no one – not even someone with a fancy pay grade who existed above the law – was going to tell her what she could and couldn’t do. </p><p>Hearing Callahan’s voice outside, his ever-cheery tone a welcome fix of “normal”, Evie moved back through the house, stepping back into the front yard just as the red and blue lights appeared in the distance at the bottom of Cherry.<br/>“Do not leave him, Phil. Stay with him at the hospital, please.” She clutched at Callahan’s arm, making him look at her until he nodded.<br/>“Aren’t you coming?”<br/>“I can’t. Not yet.” She looked over to where Hopper was loading the last gas bottle into the blue Mustang. “Please, stay with him? Play the cop card, or say you’re Frank; whatever it takes, please.”<br/>“Okay, sure. But you-“ Phil pulled her into a quick hug, not understanding what was going on but knowing that Evelyn wasn’t the type to leave her family unless she had no other choice. “What happened to your arm?” She had forgotten about the swathes of bandages still wrapped tightly around her skin.<br/>“Oh – kitchen accident.” <br/>“Are you-“<br/>“I’m fine. I have to go.”<br/>“Come soon; your dad never liked me too much.” Her dad never liked anyone; or at least that was the vibe he liked to project. Evelyn knew it was a shield to keep his family safe after so much loss.<br/>“I will.”<br/>She left Phil and jogged across the driveway to climb into the passenger seat of the Mustang. Hopper did a double take, his eyes finally settling on her with a mix of concern and confusion.<br/>“Aren’t you staying with your dad?”<br/>“I can’t.”<br/>“Evie, I’ve got this – you don’t need to-“ She cut him off with a shake of her head.<br/>“I know you do. But those men hurt my dad – possibly even tried to kill him – and I’m not about to let them get away with that.” He saw the anger glittering in her green eyes. “My dad will be okay and Phil isn’t leaving the hospital until I get there, but I want to make them think twice about coming to Hawkins again.”<br/>Hopper studied her, contemplating telling her to go with her dad, but he knew enough Carter’s to know that it wasn’t in their nature to let someone else fight on their behalf. That attitude had gotten Joey killed though, and Hopper didn’t need to see Evie follow his path to an early grave. He made a silent promise to do whatever it took to keep her safe and then turned the key in the ignition, the Mustang rumbling to life.<br/>“Okay.”<br/>“Okay?” It looked like Evie was expecting more of a fight, but there was no time and Hopper knew he’d never dissuade her from tagging along.<br/>“Okay.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I am so sorry this is super late! I forgot to mention in the last chapter that I had a week of virtual conferences for work. After six hours of people talking words don't sound like words anymore x.x<br/>And on top of that, I've damaged a ligament in my ankle, so getting comfy to write has been a challenge in itself.</p><p>I'm hoping I can get back to my every-other-day updates now! I have a week left of work before the summer though, so I may suddenly get landed with a bunch of forgotten tasks. I'll post on the (rarely used because I suck) twitter/tumblr if any more delays are expected.<br/>&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Something Wicked This Way Comes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Joyce had no idea where Hopper and Evie were. She had thought they’d appear shortly after the kids did, but there were no lights coming up the road or crackling over the radio. The teenagers were littered around her living room, talking in hushed tones, then exclaiming in disagreement before hushing each other again. Joyce wanted to ask them what was going on, but she couldn’t tear herself away from the window. At the window she could see who was coming. She could usher the kids to safety if needs be. She could barricade the front door with the furniture that made up their home. She could make this a fortress if she must, but she would rather do that with everyone accounted for – safe. <br/>The cigarette shook between trembling fingers as Joyce brought it to her lips. It was her third since Jonathan came back with Nancy. But she had to do something. She couldn’t sit around waiting – wondering what was going on in the rest of town. She knew what monsters lingered in the shadows, waiting for their moment to strike. </p><p> </p><p>“They were going to the lab. At least, that was the plan.” Jonathan startled his Joyce, mumbling an apology when she almost choked on the smoke of the cigarette instead of exhaling it.<br/>“It’s the radio silence I don’t like.” Joyce admitted, looking back through the window. “They’re out there – alone – and trying to take on god only knows what.”<br/>“They seemed to know what they were doing, mom.”<br/>“Hopper always does. He never thinks of the risk to himself.” She took another shaky drag of the cigarette, the smoke momentarily blocking her view of the outside. </p><p>Behind her, the children were moving, Mike grabbing a scarf from Will as he followed El down the hallway to the bathroom.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>There were no signs of anyone in the schools or in the centre of Hawkins. Brenner had men break into the police station, pick the locks on the schools, route through restaurants and interrogate the only obvious connection to Evelyn Carter. The men he sent after her father had come back with nothing; Reg Carter was “uncooperative” – which could mean anything from he put up a fight to he was completely clueless about the whereabouts of his only daughter. Either way, he was of no use to Brenner. </p><p>He was growing tired of chasing Hopper and Evelyn around town. He had been informed of the police and medical presence at the Carter residence, of the sudden appearance of the seemingly abandoned police truck. He was done playing games and tiptoeing around Hawkins like a thief in the night. Brenner was untouchable. If he had to burn this town to the ground, he was sure no one would dare to ask any questions of it – not after all the results he had produced through his work. He was the future of American warfare and of the citizens of this great nation. If he wasn’t protected by his own government then he’d sell his intelligence to the highest bidder; the men with all the power knew that. <br/>With a snap of his fingers, one of his loyal suited men came to his side.<br/>“Contact Proteus. Tell them it is time to put everything into Ten.” Brenner stared out into the empty street, fearless of what he was about to do. The cold air wrapped around him, but he didn’t flinch at the bitter breeze. <br/>“Sir, Proteus say they’re concerned this could result in the termination of Ten. They say the subject has not had enough rest between sessions.”<br/>“Tell them new subjects can always be found, and that any further questioning of my orders will result in their termination.” <br/>“Yes, sir.”</p><p>***</p><p>El sat in the bathroom, the running water helping her tune out the rest of the noises in the Byers’ home. Gone was the clunky plumbing, the voices in the living room ceased to be, and she let the calming sound consume her. It vibrated through her skin, along her bones, as she slipped into the dark recesses of her mind, searching for someone she had hoped never to see again.<br/>“Papa.”<br/>There he was, in the blackness, in the void, his dark suit a near perfect camouflage in this dark realm. El didn’t approach him, but watched him, wondering how he could still be alive. She had seen him attacked, watched the Demogorgon feast on his flesh and yet he was there, right there, as though none of that had ever happened.<br/>“Tell them new subjects can always be found, and that any further questioning of my orders will result in their termination.”<br/>His gaze moved to El, and for a single heartbeat, she forgot that he couldn’t see her. This was her domain, one where she controlled what happened. Or at the very least she tried to. Papa couldn’t see her, not really, and he was looking at something else. She turned, following his gaze but there was nothing there. </p><p>The edges of her world became to rot and decay. She looked around, panicking, as the darkness peeled away to more darkness. She heard that low growl that preceded the monsters, felt the shift in the air that made everything colder. Behind Brenner, the shadow appeared. It loomed over both of them, long limbs spreading beyond the blackest horizon. She remembered the drawings, the thing inside Will. She recalled the name the others had bestowed upon it - The Mind Flayer. </p><p> </p><p>Were the growls echoing or were there just more of them?<br/>They seemed to be all around her, growing louder, getting closer, but she saw nothing; nothing except the monstrous Mind Flayer, looming, waiting. <br/>Could it see her?<br/>Did it know she was there?</p><p> </p><p>El broke the link, tearing the blindfold away from her eyes. It was only then she realised she was crying, that her brow was coated in a sheen of sweat. <br/>“What happened?” Mike was already holding her, and she wondered just how long his hands had been on her arms.<br/>“Mind Flayer.” She wheezed, heart beating out of her chest. “Papa did something and the Mind Flayer came.”<br/>“Papa is infected? Like Will?” <br/>She shook her head, wiping the blood away from her nose with the back of her hand. “No. But he said something about new subjects and people not following his orders.”<br/>“What does that mean?”<br/>She shook her head again, but her thoughts travelled back to the time when she had been in his lab, when she had been his subject without knowing she was.<br/>“I think Papa wants to open the gate.” El whispered, lifting her gaze to Mike’s terrified eyes. “I think he has.”</p><p>***</p><p>Will nervously looked over his shoulder. He knew Mike and El were in the bathroom looking for answers and a way to help their town, but he was scared. He didn’t know if he wanted answers. None of them had been to The Upside Down. None of them had known the terror he had faced. It wasn’t something he could put into words. The best he could do was describe the darkness, the cold, the way every second felt like an hour. He couldn’t describe what it was to die – because he had – as much as his mom and brother tried to pretend that they found him just in time, Will knew he was dead. He had just been on the right side of death, still close enough to life that his thread could be knotted again. </p><p>He didn’t want his life to be an annual ‘save the town’ adventure. The only adventures and dances with death he wanted were in Dungeons and Dragons, where everyone could go home at the end and because they made their own rules, could be alive again the next weekend for the next campaign. The monsters were never supposed to be real – and they weren’t supposed to keep coming back.</p><p>The flesh on Will’s arms began to pimple, the hair on the back of his neck standing straight. His breathing became ragged, his blank stare fixed on the wall.<br/>“Hey, you okay?” Steve’s voice snapped him out of the trance, away from his thoughts. Steve was looking at him with that wary expression Will had come to hate. It was worse than the taunts of “Zombie Boy”. Every now and then he saw his friends and family giving him that look; as though they weren’t sure if he was entirely with them, as though he could up and attack any one of them. <br/>And they were right.<br/>He still had his connection to the Upside Down. The Mind Flayer was gone from him, but their bond still remained in nightmares and on cold, dark nights when he insisted that he was okay to walk home alone. <br/>“Will?” Lucas touched his arm, but the warmth of his hand only reminded Will of how cold his skin was.<br/>“Something is happening.” He whispered, trembling as the icy dread washed over him.</p><p>***</p><p>Evelyn and Hopper were driving slowly along the back roads. They’d managed to sneak in and out of the middle school where they had been disappointed to find only one gas canister in the science rooms. Evelyn had known the school was smaller than the inner-city ones, but she had hoped they might have had two. Nevertheless, they were on their way to the lab, quietly discussing ways to deal with Brenner and his men once the lab was in ruins.<br/>Hopper was driving without the lights, hoping to keep a low profile as they approached the lab. If anyone was already there, then the headlights would give them the advantage and they already had the numbers. <br/>“Do you think Brenner suspects El is around?” Evelyn asked, turning back to Hopper. She noticed the crease in his brow, the way his lip had curled in.<br/>“I hope not.” He confessed, fingers tightening around the steering wheel. “You told him she was gone, right?”<br/>“Mmhm.”<br/>“Did he seem to believe that?”<br/>“He never asked anything more about her.” Which meant nothing. Brenner was difficult to read. The only thing Evelyn had known for certain was that he would kill her – then and now. “So, I have no idea.” Evelyn let out a heavy sigh. The exhaustion of the last few days was starting to settle in. The ache was returning to her joints, and her brain felt fried. She was drained of energy and pushing through on the few fumes left, kickstarted by rage and adrenaline that was also in short supply at this point. She wasn’t about to give up yet, though. They had Hawkins to save. <br/>“Did you hear me?”<br/>“Huh? Oh, no, sorry. I’m-“<br/>“Exhausted? I know the feeling.” Hopper managed a small, tight smile. “Hopefully this will be over soon.”<br/>There was a howl to the side of the road.<br/>“What was-“ Before Evelyn could finish asking her question, the mustang hit something big and heavy, sending them lurching forward and back. <br/>Another howl, closer this time, and Hopper quickly flicked on the headlights. Subtly be damned, he wanted to know what the hell was happening and those howls were only all too familiar to him. </p><p>They streaked across the road in front of them, a few staggering under the sudden light, screeching and roaring as they took off into the thick of the woods again. Hopper lost control of the car, trying to avoid hitting the stampede of monsters. Swerving, the wheels on the passenger side caught a narrow ditch, spinning them out again as he fought with the wheel to bring the car back under control.<br/>“Jim!”<br/>Evelyn gripped whatever she could grab on to, bracing herself as the car spun out, smashing into a tree on the other side of the road. The metal hood crumpled like a paper cup, and smoke rose from the engine. The remaining headlight flickered and then went out, leaving them alone in the dark…surrounded by the creatures from The Upside Down.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey guys! I'm done with work for six weeks, so normal posting times should now resume!<br/>&lt;33</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. No More Running</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The gunshot was louder than Evelyn was expecting, and the three that followed it made her jump, too. She winced, curling her chest to her legs as she waited for the wave of nausea to pass. There was a ringing in her ears, a high-pitched tone that didn’t seem inclined to go away. A hand closed around her bicep, easing her upright again.<br/>“You okay?” Hopper’s voice sounded distant, but he was right beside her.<br/>She managed to nod her head, blinking hard as the bright light of the small flashlight filled the front of the car.<br/>“Shit.” She cracked an eye open to see what was wrong, her heart sinking when she saw the walkie-talkie split open with vital wires poking out from the casing.<br/>“That’s not good.” She groaned, resting her head back against the seat for a moment, the world slowly coming back into focus.<br/>“We’ll need to get back to Joyce’s before someone there does something reckless like try to find us.” He knew those kids. He knew El. No one would stay put if they thought they were in danger. Joyce probably wouldn’t even stop them if they didn’t check in soon; she’d lead them.</p><p>“I never wanted to see one of those things again, let alone a herd of them.” She rubbed her head, groaning as she felt the warm blood on her fingertips. “How many of them do you think there were?”<br/>“Ten, maybe twelve. They ran towards the town – the cemetery.” Hopper shone the light into the rear of the car, examining the gas canisters before peering through the rear window. “I think we hit one back there.”<br/>“Somehow I don’t think we can Whack-A-Mole all of them with a car. Especially not this one.” She grimaced at the front of the car, dragging herself from the passenger seat to look at it. “My dad is going to be so pissed.” She deliberately kept her gaze away from the Demogorgon corpse that lay beside the front right tyre.<br/>“Think he’ll believe us if we blame Brenner’s men?” Hopper groaned as he heaved himself from the front seat, hand reaching around to rub the small of his back.<br/>“I hope so.” Evelyn looked around, trying to find her bearings. She hadn’t been paying too much attention from the passenger seat, but this road looked familiar. “Am I right in thinking my cabin is about three minutes that way?” She pointed through the trees in the opposite direction of where the Demogorgons had ran.<br/>“Yeah.” Hopper shone the light around, flicking it back to Evie when he noticed the red on her forehead. “You’re bleeding.”<br/>“It’s nothing. I’m fine.” She had felt it, and knew it was a shallow wound that was already clotting.<br/>“They’re attracted to blood.” Hopper stated, closing the distance between them and wiping away the crimson ichor with his sleeve.<br/>“And you’ve worn quite a bit of mine in the last few days.” She grumbled, wrenching herself free. “Besides, check your lip.”<br/>He reached up, dabbing his fingers over his bottom lip. He had felt the pain, but hadn’t tasted anything akin to blood, leaving him to think it was fine. He wiped that clean, too and glanced around.<br/>“We’ll need a car to move these.” Evelyn peered through the back window at the gas cannisters and began trudging through the dirt and mud towards her cabin. “Mine is probably the closest now. So long as no one had stolen the keys.” She kept them in a bowl in the kitchen, a ceramic dish where everything necessary and unnecessary lived, such as matches, mostly used Chapsticks and tubes of breath mints.<br/>“I have to say; it’s not comforting to know those creatures came from the direction of my home.” She called back over her shoulder, steading herself on a tree as the mud thickened around her sneakers.<br/>“How did they even get here?” Hopper shone the light forward, lighting up the path for them both. “I thought the chemical spray was supposed to help.”<br/>“Help with the spread of the slime-mold.” Evelyn said pointedly, glancing across at Hopper. “I never anticipated its big brother coming along for back up.” She sighed, her legs heavy as she lifted them from the mud with each tired step.<br/>“And just how did they get here?” Hopper wasn’t expecting an answer. He was thinking aloud, wondering if this was anything like the times before.<br/>“I expect Brenner managed to remotely open the gate. Or at the very least a portal.” Evelyn recalled the conversation in the lab, the chill of dread she had felt when she realised what his plan had been. “If there is a hive mind then maybe the distress of the slime-mold once it was sprayed created some kind of call – brought them all to one location, made it easier to break through from their world.”<br/>“None of this is comforting, Evie.”<br/>“Tell me about it! Every time I think this is nearly over something else happens to just shove us right back.” It was frustrating and she just wanted to get back to a normal life, a bed she knew, and the mundane daily rituals she had always loathed; like doing the dishes or drying her hair. <br/>“Hey.” Hopper touched her arm, making her stop and turn to him. “I promise you that this will be over soon. It’ll be done and we’ll go back to normal. We’ll have our coffee and you’ll have your classes, and it’ll be like some weird nightmare in the back of our minds.” At least until the next time, but Hopper didn’t voice that particular thought. <br/>“I hope you’re right.”<br/>“Besides, I have an…acquaintance. He was here last time, and helped sort the adoption papers for El. I’ve called him. I don’t know where he is, but I know him well enough to know that he’ll show up.” He wished he knew if Owens had received his message. Hopper had been quite insistent on the pay phone, but he had been hoping for some kind of response by now.<br/>“With the cavalry?” Evelyn asked hopefully, clutching Hopper’s forearm as she almost lost her balance again. It was much harder to walk off the beaten track in the dark. The flashlight helped them avoid rocks and tree stumps, but it didn’t help locate the worst mud patches where it felt like hands were holding you down, trying to pull you into the dirt.<br/>“I hope so.” Hopper took her hand, tugging her free of the muddy anchor. “We’re gonna need them.”</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>“Mom?” Will’s voice cracked with fear, his skin growing colder as something came closer.<br/>“It’s okay, baby, it’s okay.” She held him tight, keeping her eyes on Nancy, Jonathan and Steve who were barricading the front door and arming themselves. <br/>A long, drawn out howl permeated through the curtained windows, making everyone freeze where they were.<br/>“I know that sound.” Steve stated, reading his baseball bat. “It’s not a good sound.”<br/>Lucas grabbed his wrist rocket, fumbling with a stone as he pulled it back, aiming it towards the door. Max rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything; he would only use it anyway.<br/>“Papa opened the gate.” El said quietly, eyes wide. <br/> “He’s found a way to do this all over again – open the gate, release the Demogorgon, use Hawkins as his goddamn science experiment.”<br/>“But how?”<br/>“We don’t know. El didn’t see anyone else.”<br/>“Could he have someone else with powers? Like that other girl – Eight.”<br/>“Not Kali.” El shook her head with confidence. She knew Kali’s powers didn’t work like hers did. They were different, and while powerful in their own right she didn’t think – not even for a second - that there was a way for her abilities to reach across dimensions to create a doorway. </p><p>There was a crash at the side of the house, and everyone jumped back and stared at the exterior wall, waiting for the next sound to follow. Everything fell quiet, the shuffled footsteps in the living room reminiscent of the sound of Marissa shushing children in the town library. Then, they heard something climbing the wall, moving slowly but steadily until it was on the roof of the one floor home, its footsteps passing over the heads of each of them in turn, moving from Dustin near the fireplace, to Steve closest to the front door. Steve tightened his grip around the baseball bat, readying his stance as he faced the front door, almost daring anything outside to try and come through the furniture barricade they had made.</p><p>And try they did.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>Evelyn came to a halt the very second she saw her cabin. Her last memory of this place was of it being in shambles; door broken down, glass covering the floor and the very obvious smashed window in her kitchen. Now, it stood peacefully and intact – as though she had locked it up and gone out of town for a few days.<br/>“If they raided my home for the body and then cleaned it up, I’m going to be very creeped out.” She admitted, moving towards the front door at a slow, cautious pace.<br/>“They provided a dummy body when Will went missing. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were going to make it look like you just disappeared, too.” Hopper was glad he had been there the night of the Demogorgon attack.<br/>Obviously, he was glad that he had managed to save Evie, but the thought now of Brenner’s men clearing her death up, making it seem like something had called her away from Hawkins, made his stomach curdle. No one would have questioned it, knowing Evie had lived a life in Milwaukee and knowing her father was a difficult man. It would have made just enough sense to the people who had connected with her since her return – himself included – and he hated himself for the idea that he might have fallen for it.</p><p>Evelyn tested the door handle, looking at Hopper when the door opened with a soft click. He readied his pistol and nodded at her to go inside. She took a deep breath and shoved her door open, the anxiety of the moment making her jump back as though she was expecting some monster to leap out from inside the dark, still cabin.<br/>Nothing came.<br/>Evelyn took a deep breath, her body tensing up as she told herself there was nothing inside. She reached inside and let her fingers stretch along the wall for the light switch, flicking it on. A warm light filled the cabin, and she stepped inside, looking around as though she didn’t know what to expect inside. It looked exactly how she remembered it – minus the broken glass and blood-soaked floor. <br/>It was tidy. The broken window had been boarded up from the outside, and the room smelt faintly of bleach – which Evelyn presumed was from the scrubbing of the floor, ridding the wood and the rug of any and all obvious blood stains. <br/>“This is creepy.” She stated, her fingers linking together behind her neck as she took in the rest of the room.<br/>Hopper had followed her inside and by now he was returning his pistol to his waist. While the sight of the cabin was unsettling, nothing that caused that unease could be taken away with a bullet.<br/>“Hop?” He turned to Evie, eyebrows raised slightly. “If I’m ever going anywhere – out of town, I mean – I will <i>always</i> tell you. I promise. So if I ever vanish and the only source of where I am is hearsay, then please know that I’m in danger – or worse.”<br/>“I’ll find you if that ever happens. That’s my promise to you.” He hoped it would never happen, that Evie would never find herself in this kind of danger again, but Hawkins was not the boring, safe, small town they had grown up in; not anymore.</p><p>She grabbed the keys from the bowl and tossed them to Hopper. Her hands were shaking from the idea that something could have happened to her and no one ever would have known. She didn’t feel okay to drive. Instead, she turned the light out, closed the cabin door and followed Hopper to the GTI which was still on her “driveway” – if a flattened piece of earth where nothing but a few hardy weeds grew could be called that. It was a little funny to see him sink into the front seat, struggling with just how far forward she had it. The steering wheel pressed into his gut and his knees were wedged against the console. He fumbled for the handle, finding relief when the seat scooted backwards.<br/>“Sorry.” Evelyn said with a soft chuckle as she strapped herself into the passenger seat. “I never even thought about that.” <br/>“Maybe Flo is right about me losing some weight.” Hopper joked, feeling a little strange but also a little thankful that they could have this small joke, this brief moment of reprieve amidst all the horror that was closing in around them. <br/>“You look great.” She looked him over, taking in the stained clothes, the dishevelled, tired appearance that the last few days had left them both sporting, and then smiled again. “Well, maybe after a long shower.”<br/>Hopper laughed, finally turning the key in the ignition and reversing out of the narrow space, to a patch where he could turn the car around and drive towards the wreck near Denfield. </p><p> </p><p>When they arrived at Joyce’s, the front door was wide open, and from the driveway and they could see an overturned table in the doorway. Hopper and Evelyn wasted little time in exiting the car and making their way to the house, Hopper with gun in hand once more. They froze in the doorway, taking in the scene of destruction before them.</p><p>The table was overturned, along with three of the chairs. The couch looked like it had been shoved across the room and various trinkets were littered across the floor – some of them broken. Sitting on the floor were the younger teenagers, huddled tight around El, while the elder three and Joyce seemed to be moving quickly through the home. Four lifeless bodies of small Demogorgons were in the dining room and the living room of the home.<br/>“El?” Hopper pushed through to his daughter, cradling her in his arms.<br/>She was hurt. Her shirt sleeve was ripped and blood had dried around a nasty wound on her arm. Her cheeks were tear-stained, her nose bloody, and she wrapped her arms tightly around Hopper.<br/>“Where have you been?” Joyce questioned, her tone full of irritation.<br/>“We had an accident – the radio ended up broken.” Hopper explained in as few words as possible. <br/>“What happened?” Evelyn asked, glancing around at the chaos.<br/>“The monsters came.” Steve began, breathing hard and swallowing. “They were on the roof and then one came through the back from somewhere-“ He gestured down the hall. <br/>“After that, all hell broke loose.” Max said quietly, looking up at Evelyn as she moved through the debris. <br/>“El got rid of the first one after Steve hit it, but then three came through the door.” Jonathan explained, pointing back to where the door had been forced open.<br/>“It slashed me.” El said, showing Hopper the scabbed over wound. It looked deep and painful, but El seemed more lethargic than in pain. <br/>“Are you okay?” Hopper asked, knowing the question sounded strange under the circumstances, but El was a tough kid and his question was reaching beyond the physical injury to something much deeper.</p><p>Her ‘Papa’ was back – a man they all thought dead, and she’d been forced to fight to protect herself and her friends. Hopper knew using her powers could take a lot out of her, which was why he was keen on her using them less as they tried to navigate a way to a normal life. Brenner had wanted her to be a tool, a weapon for his sick ideas, and because of that Hopper hated when she had to fight – even though he knew she was stronger than all of them. He didn’t want her to have to fight. He wished he could make it all go away once and for all. They were getting so close to being able to live normally and this could ruin that. El deserved to be like every other kid out there. She deserved to be able to have fun with her friends and, even though Hopper was uncomfortable with the time she spent alone with Mike, he wanted her to be happy, to be safe, and to have the same experiences as every other teenager. He wanted to make her memory of the lab seem like a distant dream.</p><p>“How did they get through? Wasn’t the spray supposed to help?” Joyce asked, closing up the first aid kit.<br/>“It was only intended to stop the spread of the slime-mold.” Evelyn explained with a shake of her head. “I hoped it would help close the tears – the portals – but it’s barely had the time to work on the slime-mold; any permanent closures would have taken much longer than we’ve had.” If it worked at all. Evelyn had planned to check up on it, to make notes and improve where she could, but it hadn’t even had time to do anything. It was only a few hours since she had sent the teenagers out with the mixture. <br/>“How are they getting here this time?” Nancy asked, rifle still in hand.<br/>“My theory? Brenner has another kid just like El who is remarkable.” Evelyn began, smiling softly at El, feeling this might not be easy to hear. “We know he had at least one more before you – Kali, was it? There could be others kept elsewhere that he had access to. Whatever the answer, he’s been trying to open the gate remotely. I think his ultimate goal is to use the creatures as a weapon.”<br/>“A weapon on Hawkins?”<br/>“No. No. He didn’t say too much, but I think his plan is to open another doorway to The Upside Down, but in Russia.”<br/>“An army without knowing they are one.” Steve leaned against the back of the shifted couch, folding his arms as Evelyn continued her explanation.<br/>“But you can’t just open a gate somewhere new. And he couldn’t just go to Russia. He’s working on remotely tearing away the walls of our dimension, but to figure out where to start, he’s using the residual tears here…in Hawkins.”<br/>“I don’t understand.” Joyce stated, shaking her head. “But why do all of this?”<br/>“I don’t know.” Evelyn confessed. “And honestly, I don’t want to be in that man’s head.” It was a dark place, and he already made Evelyn’s skin crawl. She didn’t know what his end goal was, or how he intended to take credit for annihilating the people of Russia should his plan eventually succeed. All she knew was that Brenner was a man who didn’t care who he hurt to get what he wanted. </p><p>“What now?” Dustin asked, looking at everyone in turn.<br/>“Do we still destroy the lab?” Hopper looked at Evie.<br/>“Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “But we lure every fucking one of these things there first.”<br/>The air was filled with a nervous excitement as each of them realised what she meant. <br/>“How do we get them there?” Steve asked, back straightening as he rested the baseball bat against his shoulder.<br/>“Not we – me.” Evelyn corrected, holding her hand up when Hopper stood up ready to argue with her. “It doesn’t make sense for anyone else to come out of this scarred.” She said firmly, eyes fixed on his. “They’re drawn to blood, right?” She gestured to her torn up arm. <br/>“You’re an idiot if you think I’m letting you go alone.” Hopper told her, stepping closer.<br/>“Plus, luring them there is one thing but how do you get out of there?” Joyce added, eyebrows raised.<br/>“You’re going to need all of us.” Nancy said firmly, though her eyes were alight with fear.<br/>Evelyn looked at Hopper, hoping he’d have something to say to stop them. His lip curled and he tucked his chin to his chest as he swallowed his frustration.<br/>“I don’t like it either, but she’s right. We can’t fight Brenner’s army without one of our own.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading &lt;33 Things are about to get chaotic and just a little bit frightening...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. The Eleventh Hour</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hawkins lab wasn’t empty when they arrived. It looked it at first, but a large space void of almost everything turned even a whisper into an echo. They could hear footsteps somewhere in the distance, muffled voices talking in the darkness.<br/>
“So much for luring them here.” Hopper mumbled, casting his gaze down at Evie.<br/>
“I’ve broken too many laws already this week; I’m not about to add murder to that list.” She responded, looking around for anything that might inspire an idea. Her eyes settled on the fire alarm, but she dismissed it a moment later. It probably wasn’t even connected anymore.<br/>
“So what now?” Jonathan was at the back of the group, carrying two of the gas bottles, one cradled in each arm.<br/>
“I don’t want anyone to put themselves in danger for this.” Evelyn knew there would be protests, but she looked only at Hopper. “Brenner is only after us two. He doesn’t know about the kids, or El.”<br/>
Hopper nodded in agreement. It pissed him off to think Brenner opened the gate again just to punish himself and Evie – to hunt them down like dogs and chase them from whatever hole they were hiding in. But she was right. No one else was suspected of being involved and it should stay that way.<br/>
“Distraction.” He said simply, his eyes still fixed on Evie’s until she dipped her head in understanding.<br/>
“Okay. Stay in groups, but get those bottles as spread out as best as you can. We want to cause as much destruction as possible when this place goes up. It doesn’t deserve to be salvaged – not a single room of it.” She was still disturbed by the horrors that had happened here. </p><p>Brenner had pretty much confirmed with his silence in Milwaukee that he had continued the MKUltra study here, and then there had been El and Kali who weren’t children in his eyes despite how they called him Papa, but rather tools for him to auction off for a high price to the right bidder. People had died because of this lab, because of Brenner’s work. People had been hurt, had their lives forever changed, and yet Hawkins Lab still stood as a monument of horror. Evelyn had never been a destructive person, but she would gladly take a sledgehammer to the remains of this place once its walls had crumbled. Only the dust would remain if she had her way. </p><p>“Open the valves and then get away. Then get out. Get out and get outside the fence.” Evelyn wasn’t predicting the kind of explosion that they saw in action movies, but she didn’t want anyone to be struck by flying debris or even think of coming back into the building once a fire had been ignited.<br/>
Hopper stepped in, using his knowledge of the lab’s layout to decide where the groups would go. Before they split completely, Evelyn stepped forward to take a cannister from Jonathan.<br/>
“I want to make sure the gate is buried.” She told her student, gesturing for him to go immediately after.<br/>
Joyce faltered as she went to follow El and Mike, only slightly comfortable with Will aiding Jonathan through this. Her mother’s instinct wanted her boys with her, but she also knew Hopper couldn’t let El wander around this place without someone to watch her. Brenner was too close.<br/>
“You two be careful. No more bodies need to be carried out of this place.”</p><p>It wasn’t easy for Joyce to be back in Hawkins Lab. It wasn’t easy for her to be back in the place where the man she had cared deeply for – maybe even loved – had been brutally killed by monsters not of this earth. She had pushed on for her children, for the hope that they could go back to their normal lives without fear, but there had been a wall constructed around herself – one no one saw or broke through. She had grieved for Bob, and still grieved for him. She didn’t think she’d ever truly stop. They had made plans together, thought of a future where they could be walking in Maine, where life – this life – could be far behind them. Joyce had never allowed herself too many things since she always put the needs of Jonathan and Will before everything else, but she had allowed herself to dream with Bob, to love the very things Hopper had teased and joked about. She wanted to be angry, to feel something other than fear, but it kept replaying over and over in her head as they stood in the large, empty foyer; the smile Bob gave as they were reunited, the way it looked like everything was going to be okay, and then the blood – so much blood, hot, dripping, spraying, and they had feasted on him like, like –</p><p>“We’ll be okay, Joyce.” Hopper’s voice brought her out from the memory, brought Joyce back to the empty, clean – if not a little dusty – foyer of Hawkins Lab.<br/>
He had seen her freeze up, recognised where her mind was at. He couldn’t change what had happened, and he couldn’t say he hadn’t had sleepless nights since then either. All he could do was reassure his old friend that history wouldn’t repeat itself.<br/>
Joyce nodded, letting El take her hand and guide her down the dark hallway Hopper had instructed them to. This was the shortest trip any of them would have to make, and realistically, they’d be outside and to safety before Hopper and Evelyn even found the men in the building. </p><p> </p><p>They watched as they vanished down the hallway, and only then did Hopper touch Evie’s arm.<br/>
“Here. I want you to take this.” He pulled his pistol from his waistband, pushing it towards her when she shook her head insistently. “Take it.”<br/>
She stepped back. “I don’t like guns.”<br/>
Every time Evie saw a gun she thought of her brothers. No one really knew what happened to Joey and Charlie since it was difficult to garner any information about what happened in their final moments, but for a long time, whenever she was stressed, the nightmares came where she saw her brothers – her heroes – riddled with bullets in a senseless battle that so many years on had benefitted no one.<br/>
“I need you safe, Evie.” Hopper tugged her closer, pressing the gun into her hand. “Safety, look. Safety on, safety off. Don’t try to get fancy, just aim at the trunk of the body.”<br/>
“Hop, I don’t-“<br/>
“It’s a last resort. If we get separated, or we’re outnumbered, you need something.” She sighed, realising he was right. Brenner’s men were likely to have guns and they wouldn’t hesitate to shoot at her or Hopper.<br/>
Evelyn closed her fingers around the gun, staring down at it before she slipped it into the waistband of her trousers, letting the weight settle. She kept telling herself that it was a last resort, that she didn’t need to use it at all if this all went to plan.<br/>
Hopper was still holding the rifle she had stolen from the guard in Milwaukee, and he led the way down the dark corridor, following the distant whispers until they grew louder. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Steve felt a strange sense of Déjà vu. He was with Dustin, both of them wearing rubber gloves and carrying buckets of scraps that had been sourced from the dumpster behind the butchers. They’d gotten lucky. His waste collection day was tomorrow, and he always filled the dumpster with the store’s scraps and leftovers the night before. Steve and Dustin had collectively emptied a good portion of it from the dumpster, with Steve complaining about the smell for the most part.<br/>
They were the only two who hadn’t gone to the lab, Dustin insisting to the others that they could use the same plan from last year to help lead the demodogs to the lab. It had taken a little bit of convincing, but Miss Carter had accepted quickly that she probably didn’t have enough blood to spill to lead so many of them to the lab in time for an unpredictable explosion. </p><p>“We need to keep moving.” Dustin was half a dozen steps ahead of Steve. “Steve, stop dawdling!”<br/>
“I’m not! I’m making sure there’s an actual trail instead of throwing them all over the place like you are!” Steve paused to readjust his sweater which he had pulled up over his face to try and filter out the horrific stench of the old meat.<br/>
“I’m making sure there’s enough for everyone.” Dustin said it like it should have been obvious. “We don’t want a stray Demogorgon being beaten to the food.”<br/>
“If this can even be called food.” It smelt and looked awful, and Steve was somewhat grateful for the dark of the night. It at least meant he couldn’t see the discolouration on the meat he was tossing down with every other step.<br/>
“Do you think they can get food poisoning?” Dustin asked as Steve caught up to him.<br/>
“What?”<br/>
“Well, obviously we couldn’t eat this meat because we’d get sick.”<br/>
“One of these things ate your cat. I don’t think they’re exactly fussy.”<br/>
“Good point.” Dustin conceded, littering the soft earth with more of the slightly rotten meat.<br/>
“Besides, if they get sick then they’re weaker, right? That’s better for us.”<br/>
“Hey, do you think Miss Carter would let us study one of them?”<br/>
Steve stopped in his tracks, shooting Dustin a look of pure disbelief.<br/>
“One of them almost killed her. I don’t think she wants to spend time around another one – even if it is dead.”<br/>
“I just thought, y’know, if it was for science – and since she is a science teacher-“<br/>
“Don’t even ask her, Dustin.” Steve could only imagine how awkward that conversation would be to watch, and Dustin was about to have to spend the next four years with her as his teacher. “You don’t want to alienate her before you start high school.”<br/>
“You think it’s a bad idea then?” There was an unnatural howl in the distance, somewhere behind them.<br/>
“Yes.” Steve stated, gagging as his sweater slipped and he got a ripe whiff of decaying flesh. “Let’s hurry up and get this done before those things catch up with us.”</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>It came as no surprise to either Hopper or Evelyn that the men were located close to where The Gate had once been. Evelyn and Hopper kept to the shadows, creeping along silently as they listened in.<br/>
“Ten’s success was not enough.” The voice was unmistakeably Brenner’s. “This was the goal.”<br/>
Evie pressed herself against Hopper’s side, pushing herself onto her toes so that she could whisper in his ear. “Ten? Like Eleven?”<br/>
He glanced back at her, having thought the same thing the moment he had heard it. “The Gate isn’t open.”<br/>
“No, but there are tears between our world and The Upside Down all over Hawkins.” She didn’t know if that was worse. At least with a single gate it was easy to locate, to close, but Brenner’s experiment had been to pick at scar tissue, to dig into the healing wounds of the town and rip them open again. Just how many doors were open now?<br/>
“But the creatures are here, sir. Ryland’s team spotted them along the train tracks.”<br/>
Neither Evelyn or Hopper had to say it; if anyone in the town saw the monsters, if they managed to reach the houses…there was no “story” that could be told to convince the residents of Hawkins that none of this had happened.<br/>
“We shall have to resort to Plan B.” Brenner again. “Tell the engineers that we will require them on site as soon as possible.”</p><p>Someone began walking in the direction Evelyn and Hopper were hiding in. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into a side room, pressing her against the wall behind the open door. He could feel her heart beating in her chest, pounding against his forearm as they held their breath and waited for the man to pass.<br/>
Hopper peeked around the door when he thought it was safe, reaching back for Evie once he was certain the coast was clear.<br/>
“What exactly is our plan here?” She asked him, crouching down in the doorway so she could place the gas cylinder down.<br/>
“It was to confront Brenner, but I suspect he’s not alone down there.”<br/>
“I think he’s got enough ‘friends’ with him to throw a dinner party.” Evie said drying, twisting the top of the gas bottle until she heard that almost silent hiss coming from there.<br/>
“We’ll figure it out.” As soon as Hopper turned, he froze.<br/>
Evelyn didn’t notice at first and tried to nudge her way by him, but the cold sensation of a gun against her temple stopped her short.<br/>
“Mr Brenner will be glad we’ve found you two. He’s been looking everywhere.” Hopper had the rifle snatched from him, while the man holding the gun to Evie wrenched her forwards, holding onto her arm tightly.<br/>
“What were you just doing?” He asked Evie, tugging harder on her arm, pulling her away from Hopper.<br/>
“Tying my shoelace.” She lied, hoping on everything she had that they wouldn’t look in the room and see the just-out-of-sight gas bottle.<br/>
By sheer dumb luck, the shoelace on her left sneaker looked loose, and since the trio of men surrounding them were goons and not scientists, none of them thought to question the lie. </p><p>Hopper, had he been alone, would have taken on the two men, fought his way out, but it was the third man who held Evelyn that made him pause. He didn’t want to act recklessly if she was going to pay the price. He couldn’t risk her taking a bullet, even if his blood boiled at how the man was handling her, tugging her along roughly.<br/>
“Come on. Brenner will want to see you.” The other two men flanked Hopper, moving him along at gunpoint.</p><p>Both of them knew the room they were being led to, they’d stood in there earlier, sharing untold stories and almost – so nearly almost – kissing. It wasn’t empty now though. No less than ten faces greeted them, the group forming a semi-circle around the platform they were corralled onto.<br/>
“It’s good to see you both again.” Brenner’s words dripped with sarcasm, his smile predatory.<br/>
What he wasn’t saying was what both Hopper and Evelyn were thinking right then.<br/>
<i>You’re fucked.</i></p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Nancy almost screamed when she turned the corner and collided with Jonathan. She slapped his chest and glared at him, biting her lip as her heart calmed down.<br/>
“Did you do it?” Will asked, his question directed at Lucas and Max.<br/>
“Yeah. The basement is primed.” Lucas said, peering back over his shoulder. “Will it be enough, do you think?”<br/>
“Only one way to find out.” Jonathan said, ushering the small group back the way he had just come with Will. “Let’s get out of here.”<br/>
“Do you think Miss Carter and the Chief will be alright?” Nancy asked, only to receive silence as her answer.<br/>
None of them dared to think what could happen to them. Did they walk into the lion’s den or did they figure something else out? Thinking about it only left an uncomfortable gnawing feeling in Jonathan’s stomach, so he chose to focus on the few things he could control; like making sure Will was safe, that Nancy was safe.</p><p>They got to the foyer and paused when they saw Joyce with El and Mike. They were near the door, but stepping away from it slowly.<br/>
“Someone is coming.” Max pointed through the glass, finger aimed at the headlights coming along the stretch of road to the lab.<br/>
She was right. There were no less than four vehicles approaching the abandoned building.<br/>
“Get back inside, quick.” Joyce tugged at El’s hand, moving her from the window.</p><p>Jonathan pulled Will into a side office, crouching down beside him as Nancy slid down the wall opposite, Lucas and Max by her side. There were men in the building, and now there were men outside.<br/>
In short, they were surrounded.<br/>
They were trapped.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>My mind is like one of those crime boards right now - string stretching from one plot point to the next. SO MUCH IS COMING.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. No Way Out</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The guns remained pointed towards Evie and Hopper as they were corralled onto the viewing platform, pushed closer towards the railings. Brenner wore a sickening smile as he crossed the room, looking up at the two of them like they were rabbits in a trap.<br/>“I wondered when I’d be seeing you again.”<br/>“You’ll understand if I say I was hoping you wouldn’t see us again.” Evelyn remarked, sliding ever so slightly closer to Hopper, moving her feet so she was standing ever so slightly in front of him.<br/>Brenner chuckled darkly, hands clasped behind his back. “It really is a shame, Miss Carter. I could have liked you. We could have done great things together.”<br/>“In another universe where I didn’t have morals.” She had nothing to pretend this time. </p><p>Evelyn didn’t need to buy time or suck up to him now. They were in a difficult situation, but they were together. In Milwaukee her thoughts had been on getting back to Hopper and getting out of there. Although they were outnumbered, Evelyn knew something they did not. She knew she still had Hopper’s pistol tucked into the waistband of her trousers, concealed by the jacket she was wearing. </p><p>“Come now, Miss Carter. Surely you must understand that to make the advancements in science we need to bend the rules a little.”<br/>“Bending the rules and obliterating them are completely different things.” She pressed her back lightly against Hopper’s front, subtly trying to make him realise that she was still armed. She also hoped that he’d realise what her plan was. <br/>His hands brushed against her hips, almost holding her steady as though he thought she was going to stumble or fall.<br/>“Easy.” He whispered, his lips barely moving. <br/>Evelyn didn’t know if that meant he understood, or if he was oblivious to what she was attempting to tell him and simply suggesting that she not antagonise Brenner. Then, his right hand moved ever so slightly around the curve of her hip towards her back. It stilled, resting in place with his thumb less than an inch away from the pistol.<br/>They were idiots to only check Hopper for weapons, and Evelyn couldn’t wait for them to realise that. Her heart beat hard, but steady as she acted like nothing was happening – that they were still outnumbered and trapped.</p><p>She felt the slightest pressure against the small of her back. Hopper was gently trying to tell her to move, to bend forward. She couldn’t look behind herself without seeming suspicious, but she assumed there wasn’t enough space between them for Hopper to pull the gun free easily – and this had to be easy, and fast.</p><p>Evelyn shifted her weight, leaning against the railing with both arms slightly spread. She kept her stare fixed on Brenner, almost as though she was trying to stare him down. The twitch in his smirk told her he was amused by her attempt, but she suspected he was relying too much on the fact that they were outnumbered by his men. <br/>“So what now? You shoot us and leave our bodies for those creatures to come and find?” She noticed the microscopic twitch of Brenner’s left eye. “You didn’t think we’d know about that? Hawkins is a small town, but it’s not cannon fodder for your experiments. We’ll kill every last one of them.” <br/>She felt Hopper’s hand inching under her shirt, his fingers hot against her flesh. <br/>“And just how do you plan on doing that when you’re going to die down here?” Brenner spoke to her like she was a child, using that same condescending tone he had adopted when he had spoken to her in Milwaukee. <br/>For all the times he said she could have been a remarkable asset to his team, she highly doubted that Brenner respected anyone but himself. <br/>Hopper’s hand closed around the pistol’s grip, his knuckles pressing into the soft skin of Evelyn’s back. He pushed his ring finger harder into her spine, a tiny move that told Evelyn he was ready. She took a deep breath, smiling tightly at Brenner as she curled her fingers tighter around the cool metal railing.<br/>“But we’re not going to die down here, Martin. You can thank your own idiots for that.”<br/>She ducked down, using the railing to keep her balance at the same time that Hopper tugged the pistol free and fired two shots at the guards on either side of them. Evelyn winced with each shot, watching the men fall before she dodged out of the way and found herself crouched behind Hopper. Neither of the men were dead, Evelyn noticed, but they had both taken shots to their shoulders, and their guns lay abandoned at their sides. Gunshots continued to echo in the room, and Evelyn stretched out a leg to kick the guns away from their handlers, removing the threat completely as they skidded across the platform and down behind a metal frame that had once supported the computers and machines that had been packed into the space for Brenner’s “advancements”.</p><p>“Go, go!” Hopper tugged her to her feet, pushing her back towards the door.<br/>She glanced around just enough to understand that Hopper hadn’t made a single kill-shot, but that the rest of his shots – towards unarmed men – had been to scatter and startle them. The only person who hadn’t tried to shelter behind the metal platform was Brenner, who took the moment to scream at his subordinates.<br/>“Do not let them get away!”<br/>But they did.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Steve and Dustin were crouched in the bushes outside the chain link fence of the lab. Their buckets of meat were empty, save for a few chunks of meat that had been missed in the dim light. <br/>“This is bad.” Dustin stated, his eye moving across the different groups of men that filled the parking lot of Hawkins’ lab. <br/>“No shit.” Steve murmured, crouching lower in the damp grass as he saw men with heavy, padded armour and guns climb out of the largest van in the lot.</p><p>There were a handful of men in suits huddled together, the group who looked like soldiers, and two other men in waterproof coats who seemed to be doing an awful lot of pointing around. Dustin stood up and Steve tugged his sleeve to drag him back down again.<br/>“No, wait.” Dustin tried to pull Steve up, grabbing his wrist as the older teen attempted to pull him down again. “Doesn’t that short guy kind of look like the dude Hopper was talking with last year? After everything was over?”<br/>“I don’t know! I didn’t exactly stick around for the aftermath.” In fact, Steve had gone for a long, hot shower, followed by a rather tense conversation with his dad about how and why he had been beaten up – again.<br/>“The doctor!” Dustin exclaimed, moving through the long grass towards the open gate. “He’s one of the good guys, come on.”<br/>“What are you doing?”<br/>“Going to tell him what happened.” Dustin stopped abruptly and turned around to face Steve. “There is – probably – a pack of hungry demodogs on their way here. Do you want to be outside when they arrive? Do you want to watch them chew down on all those innocent people?”<br/>Steve grumbled a response and stumbled to his feet, wiping his damp hands on the denim of his jeans.<br/>“You better be right about this.” He didn’t particularly crave another ass kicking. It was becoming an annual event more painful than Thanksgiving after his Aunt Joy finished her wine and started asking everyone inappropriately personal questions. </p><p>Steve kept a somewhat reasonable distance from Dustin while also doing his best to remain close in case something happened. He didn’t think they’d be allowed to waltz by the men with the guns – and he was right. They had barely stepped beyond the fence before the guns were trained on them, a melody of clicks as safety’s were knocked off. Steve dropped his bat, raising his hands as Dustin began to wave his own like a white flag of surrender.<br/>“We come in peace!”<br/>“They’re soldiers, not aliens, dorkface.”<br/>Dustin ignored him, taking another small step forward. “We know Will, and Hopper.” He shouted it loud enough to get the attention of the others outside of the armed group, with heads quickly turning to see what was going on. “And we have information you guys really will want to know.”<br/>The man with the grey hair came forward, eyebrows furrowed as he came to a stop before Dustin. “Do you know what is happening inside?”<br/>“You’re the Doctor, right? The one who helped Will last year?” Dustin wasn’t about to reveal anything to just anyone. He wanted to make sure that this was the good guy – was someone they could trust.<br/>Owens smiled and nodded, and Steve could see the strain in his face as he tried to remain patient. <br/>“I am, yes.”<br/>“Then you should know that everyone is inside, along with Brenner and the bad men, and we’re expecting a hoard of Demodogs to join shortly.”<br/>Owens stared at the kid, expression frozen and body still. <br/>“I’m sorry?”<br/>“I assume Chief Hopper contacted you?”<br/>“He did, but nothing you just said was in his message.” </p><p>Hopper had only said enough to suggest he was in trouble, was most likely being chased by Brenner and that Hawkins was under threat again. It wasn’t a message Owens was happy to receive, but part of him wasn’t surprised by it.</p><p>Dustin began to explain everything, with Steve interjecting whenever he exaggerated or got side-tracked with some analogy born from sci-fi movies and Dungeons and Dragons. Owens listened intently, occasionally gesturing to the men around him with hand gestures they seemed to understand immediately. Slowly the group dispersed across the parking lot, taking up positions in the shadows around the lab. <br/>Then the howl came – and it was much closer now.<br/>“Was than an echo?” Steve asked hopefully as more howls followed the first.<br/>“Get inside.” Owens had blanched, his expression less than confident now as he hurried Dustin towards the door.<br/>“But Brenner-“<br/>“He’ll go down faster than those things will.” Steve pointed out, needing no extra encouragement to move towards the doors of Hawkins lab.<br/>The man who had been with Owens began commanding the soldiers in short, concise orders that became muffled as the door closed behind them. <br/>Steve turned around and watched as heavy artillery was pulled from the van which included some large guns that required two men to handle. <br/>The first one fired almost as soon as it was set up, the gunfire loud enough that Steve felt it under his feet. The howling got closer, and the soldiers’ gunfire became more rapid from both the heavy cannons and the assault rifles.<br/>“How many did you say there were?” Owens asked, stepping tentatively closer to the glass door.<br/>“A lot.” Steve wasn’t sure if anyone knew an exact number, but there had been a lot of potential doorways to try and close up with the spray he had helped Miss Carter mix. <br/>“There was a plan.” Dustin said, quickly summarising how the science teacher had plotted to lead the monsters to the lab and blow them up when they brought the building down. <br/>“It’s not a bad plan.” Owens conceded, though obviously they hadn’t catered for the unpredictability of Brenner and his men. <br/>At that moment, the gunfire outside was joined by less than harmonious cries of horror and pain. There was an outline of something not quite human darting through the shadows of the parking lot and the trio inside did not need to be told what they had seen. It was quite obvious to them that the creatures had greeted their forces with their own bloodthirsty army.<br/>“That door won’t hold for long.” Owens said, memories from last year racing through his mind. For a moment, his leg throbbed right where the gnarled scar still bothered him sometimes. <br/>“We need to get deeper in.” Steve began to back up, stumbling when his shoulder clipped one of the support columns.<br/>“But the Chief and Miss Carter were going to start a fire.” Dustin reminded him.<br/>“We don’t have much choice right now.” Steve argued, pointing towards the door with the baseball bat. “We either go outside and get eaten by the friends of your pet, or we find somewhere to hide until we start smelling smoke.” Neither were wonderful options, but Steve hoped they might bump into the others before it came to that. He didn’t think everyone had finished up in the lab and then made a safe retreat so quickly. <br/>A Demogorgon hit the glass door, fell to the ground and for a moment they all thought it was dead, but slowly, it pushed itself back up and turned to face them, screeching in their direction as the hail of bullets began to crack the glass.<br/>“Run!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I am so sorry this took forever. Life got wild for a hot second and every time I tried to write I managed maybe a handful of sentences before I was needed for something else. But - I got there in the end and I'm hoping the next chapter won't take as long!<br/>&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Sparks in the Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They left the commotion behind them, turning and twisting up hallways in a haphazard fashion to try and make it harder for their path to be followed. Evelyn could hear Hopper’s heavy breath behind her, his boots hitting the linoleum floor much louder than her sneakered feet. She stumbled to a halt and grabbed his forearm, tugging him towards a small supply closet on the corner of an intersection. The door was unlocked, and so she pulled Hopper inside, doubling over once the door was closed again, breathing heavily as she slouched over.<br/>“I’m not as fit as I used to be.” She wheezed, feeling her calf muscles spasming as she sunk back against the cool wall. <br/>“Tell me about it.” Hopper’s chest heaved with each breath, but he still looked Evie over, making sure she was okay aside from the obvious exertion. “You good?”<br/>“Yeah. I just didn’t want to keep running around and wind up lost in here.” </p><p>Hawkins Lab was huge, and Evelyn didn’t want to end up trapped in a place she couldn’t get out from. She had only been here once before, and she had been following Hopper the whole time, barely paying attention to the route they took around the building. She didn’t know this place well enough to understand where corridors created shortcuts, where staircases led to the safety of fire escapes. All she did know was that they couldn’t keep running and expect to have the upper hand; both of them were already breathless and she expected the overall exhaustion creeping up on her was also doing the same to Hopper.</p><p>With her breathing back under control, Evelyn straightened her back and looked across the small space at Hopper.<br/>“What now?” She asked, suddenly overly aware of how tight the closet was for the two of them. <br/>Hopper took a tiny step closer so he could whisper – just in the event that someone passed by outside and heard them since there was only one way out of the closet and he’d rather it not be surrounded when they tried to move on.<br/>“We’re running out of time. If you mean to start a fire that will catch, but with enough time for us to get out before the explosion then we need to move.”<br/>“But there are people in the building.” Evelyn didn’t want to be a murderer, not even if the men she might kill were despicable and saw humans as their own lab rats.<br/>“You have to make a call, Evie.” Hopper knew it wasn’t an easy decision. He also knew what he’d prefer to do in this situation, but Evie was nothing like him. “Brenner’s men could always find a way out before the fire spreads that far.” He added, though he hoped Brenner would still be inside when the lab came down. That man deserved to be buried under the rubble where he had hurt so many others.</p><p> </p><p>Her green eyes met his and he could see the indecisiveness in them. He knew she wasn’t a killer. He also knew that it was a line no one could come back from. Vietnam had shown him how that could change a man. It broke some of the best guys he had served with, and it turned others into monsters who thought they were above the law. He already knew what it would do to Evie and he couldn’t let that happen to her. </p><p>“The fire alarm could still be connected to the sprinklers. It would ruin everything.” He explained slowly, and she nodded in understanding. “There are a dozen ways out of this building – you said it yourself that science labs are prepared for accidents – so they could easily find their way out and abandon the chase. It would be up to them what they valued more; catching us or saving their own lives.” Another nod. “You’re not responsible for what other people do.” A third. “And no one will ever know what really happened here. It’s not like the town will think you were behind this.” <br/>He already knew that reckless youths from outside of Hawkins would be the perfect cover for an event like this and coupled with the danger of the gas bottles left behind by the government, no one would even question if something different had happened. Hopper was getting good at lying to the town he served. <br/>“Look at me.” He tilted her chin up, feeling her warm breath wash over his hand. “We’re in this together, alright?”<br/>“Alright.” She agreed, letting her lip free from the teeth biting down on it. “We need something to help accelerate the fire.” She started looking around, rummaging on dark shelves for any chemicals that may have been left behind when the lab was abandoned the previous year.</p><p>If there was anything likely to be left behind, she expected it to be in the cleaning cupboard. People didn’t seem to give much thought to how dangerous cleaning supplies could be if found in the wrong hands; or in the hands of a science teacher who needed to start a catastrophic fire. <br/>“How’s this?” Hopper asked, shoving a bottle of disinfectant under her nose so she could see it in the near darkness they were stood in.<br/>Evie squinted at the back of the bottle, straining to read the contents of the bottle, but she soon made out enough to nod her head at Hopper. <br/>“That’ll do.” She shook the bottle to check the contents and was pleased to hear that the weight wasn’t just excessive plastic but was indeed an indication of the liquid volume inside. “Now we just need to set a fire close enough to one of the gas cannisters, but still far enough away that it won’t immediately explode.” She looked at Hopper hopefully, her fingers crossed that he knew this lab better than she did and would be more aware of where they were right now. Evelyn had been blindly running up until the closet, just trying to make their escape as confusing as possible to buy themselves some time.</p><p> </p><p>Hopper wrapped his hand around hers, pushing the door open a crack before peering down the corridors to make sure it was safe. He saw and heard nothing, so pulled her out behind him, glancing around one more time before guiding her down the darkest of the corridors which led to a much forgotten and very narrow stairwell. He ignored the stairs and crossed through another door on the right.</p><p>“This space is all open plan, pretty much. And it connects to the left and right of the building through the doors at each end.” He pointed them out, though they were just glints in the darkness. “We open them, start the fire in here, and it should spread.” He explained, trying not to put as much emphasise on “should” as his brain wanted him to. <br/>Evelyn nodded, and with trembling hands she unscrewed the cap from the disinfectant, sloshing it haphazardly around the space, leaving a wet trail from one door to the other. She was still nervous, still afraid of someone getting hurt by her plan. Killing monsters was one thing, but the thought of someone human dying because of a fire she started left a heavy knot in her stomach. </p><p> </p><p>File dividers and some forgotten papers filled filing cabinets and were scattered on the floor around them. Hopper collected them together in a heap on a dust covered desk. Evie threw the last of the disinfectant on them, tossing the bottle aside when it was empty. She fumbled in her pocket for the matchbook she had brought along. Her fingers were shaking as she struck it, the first strike not sparking a flame. Hopper’s hand closed over hers, steadying her. Evie looked up at him and he nodded softly, managing a small smile, too.<br/>“We’re in this together.”<br/>She nodded this time, finding strength in his words and striking the match. The orange flame entranced her for a moment, but then she tossed it onto the stack of papers and watched it slowly start to spread, curling around the kindling and growing higher as flames began to flicker across the linoleum, stretching out, reaching for more fuel, more material to burn through. It licked up the legs of desks, across the chipped paint on half walls, and soon the room was bright with the hot light. <br/>“Let’s go.” Hopper tugged her out of the room, back the way they had come which was the only path not to have been doused for the fire to continue along.</p><p> </p><p>They were jogging down the stairs, Evelyn blindly following Hopper and assuming he knew of a way out for them. They came to a sudden halt when a loud too-close, too familiar howl sent a cold chill through both of them. A moment later they heard another noise, one that turned that cold chill into a sense of icy dread.<br/>“El!”<br/>Mike’s voice was clear, cutting through the darkness a floor below where they stood. <br/>The fire was roaring above them, and those they knew and loved were still in the building, along with Brenner’s men and what sounded too much like Demogorgons to be anything else. <br/>“Fuck.”<br/>“Shit.”<br/>Both words summed up their predicament exactly.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was a good writing day - the next chapter is half completed, too. <br/>&lt;33</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Out of The Shadows</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With the creatures in the building, those on the ground floor had been left with no option but to retreat further inside. Steve and Dustin had accompanied the doctor, where they had come across Jonathan and Nancy, the latter swinging a broken shelf at Steve’s head before she recognised him and squealed an apology as she stumbled on the follow through. Lucas and Max took off when they heard Mike’s voice and soon the group were reunited in a large, empty room that felt a little too familiar to El. It was dark, so she hadn’t noticed the rainbow painted in the doorway, but she felt a cold resonance as soon as she had crossed the threshold. <br/>“Doctor Owens?” Joyce was the first to speak. “What are you doing here?” She asked while hugging Jonathan, relieved to have her eldest boy back where she could see him.<br/>“Jim called. I-“ He glanced over his shoulder towards the doorway. “I did bring the cavalry, but we weren’t expecting to face another army quite so soon.” Owens had been wary of the creatures that plagued Hawkins, had come prepared, but with no outright indication of their existence in the town this year, he hadn’t imagined that so many would be around to greet his team.<br/>“Yeah, sorry about that.” Dustin apologised, adjusting the peak of his cap. “Our plan sort of changed when the portals around town apparently got opened.” He looked back at Owens, remaining oddly calm in the face of uncertainty. “There was only one Demogorgon originally. And it was dead.”<br/>“A lot has been happening tonight.” Joyce summarised, not entirely sure she knew or understood all of it.<br/>“Where’s Jim?”<br/>“Somewhere here, with Evelyn.”<br/>“Evelyn?”<br/>“Oh, she’s the new science teacher. She was attacked last week when this all started.” Joyce didn’t think there was time for a full run through of what had happened. “A lot has been happening.” She repeated, positive that there wasn’t time to fill Owens in on everything. Not to mention, Joyce was still ever so slightly wary of the man after he has dismissed Will’s symptoms and feelings last year as merely psychological trauma. A part of her blamed the doctor for how close she had come to losing her son, and for how she had lost Bob.</p><p>Owens just nodded at the words. Jim’s message hadn’t been very detailed or specific. It simply said that there was trouble in Hawkins that involved Brenner and that he should really get down there before it was too late. Right now, Owens was wondering if it was already too late. He hadn’t known that there were more of those creatures on the loose, or that there was a plan to burn down the building they were standing in. In fact, he knew very little since Jim had revealed only what was necessary to the person on the phone. </p><p>“We need to get out of here before the fire spreads.” Nancy stated, knowing that they already should have been far away from the building.<br/>“Do you think they started it already?” Steve asked, sniffing hard in the vain hope he might smell smoke. The only smell he got was that of damp.<br/>“No idea. They were going to do something, but they never exactly specified what.” Lucas pointed out, reminding everyone that they had no idea where Hopper and Evelyn were in the dark, sprawling building. <br/>“Shh!” Steve raised a finger to his lips, his other hand tightening around the baseball bat.</p><p>There was something outside.<br/>Its footsteps were heavy, but slow, almost wet like it was trudging in slime. There was a throaty breathing with it, steady and deep. It didn’t sound like any human any of them had ever heard of; not even Lucas’ grandma who made breathing sound like it was a complicated function that required all of her energy. </p><p> </p><p>El slipped her way silently to the front of the group. She knew what was coming. She knew what was out there, waiting for them, stalking them. And she knew that there was no way out of this room other than the door they had entered by. The second she saw something more through the gap in the door, she shot her hand out and tossed her head back, sending the creature flying into the wall opposite with a sickening thud. Something snapped – something that sounded like a bone – and the creature fell to the floor where it remained motionless.<br/>“Well, that’s one down. Only a dozen more to go.” Steve said, trying to break the tension in the room. With the glare he received from Nancy and the shake of the head from Dustin, he had to assume it hadn’t worked. </p><p>“We need to get out of here.” Joyce said firmly, moving towards the doorway.<br/>“But we don’t know if there are anymore out there.” Will argued, causing his mom to freeze before she took another step.<br/>“There was definitely more than one.” Steve added, recalling the howls that ushered them inside, and the movements in the shadows that left him uneasy. <br/>“I think we need to wait for Hopper and Miss Carter.” Jonathan said softly, his eyes fixed on the body of the Demogorgon, almost as though he didn’t trust it to stay dead.<br/>“But we don’t know where they are.” Mike complained. It was obvious that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with their situation, and that sitting trapped wasn’t something he thought was a good idea either.<br/>“We know they’re in here somewhere.” Dustin pointed out, earning himself a glare from his friend.<br/>“We can’t leave them behind.” Steve argued, looking around the group. “They don’t even know the creatures are here.” <br/>“Let’s break this down.” Owens started, silencing the already quiet room with raised hands. “We need to find a safe way out of here and we need to make sure that Hopper and – and Evelyn, was it? – are also able to make it out of here. But I have questions of my own. Firstly, is Brenner here?”<br/>“Yes.” El spoke up first, wiping the blood from her nose.<br/>“And is it safe to assume that Hopper and Evelyn went looking for him?”<br/>“They were going to distract his team while we placed the gas cannisters.” Jonathan explained, though he shrugged a moment later. “We have no idea where they might be in the building though.”</p><p>Owens nodded. It made things trickier, and his memory of Hawkins Lab was one he had tried to get rid of, but standing in the too-familiar space again was bringing back knowledge he hadn’t hoped to call upon again. <br/>“Okay, well, first things first; this room probably isn’t the safest place for us to be.” They were too close to the broken front doors, and there wasn’t actually a door on the room they were in. “There is a lab at the end of the left hallway outside that used to have a security lock on it. The lock probably doesn’t work now, but the door itself was solid, made to be fireproof in case of any accidents.” Owens had never actively used the lab for experiments in his time at the lab, since they had mostly been cleaning up the mess left by his predecessor, but he remembered it now as the place they filed away sensitive papers that could have brought more embarrassment to the government owned facility. <br/>“Come on.”</p><p> </p><p>The group moved slowly, with Owens in the front and Joyce trying to stay in the rear with the older teenagers. El was on high alert too, knowing she could protect them all if she needed to. They could hear the wet breathing like noise of the creatures coming from the opposite direction and all of them were holding their breath, trying to remain as silent as possible. A shard of glass cracked further under Max’s foot, the almost inaudible noise instead resonating like a booming echo in the dark corridor. They all froze, waiting in hope that it was only loud to their tight group. Then, from somewhere closer than any of them would have like it to be, there came a short, hungry howl.<br/>“Move.” Owens kept his voice quiet, but his tone had never been more serious or fearful.</p><p>No one tried to be quiet now. There was a panic wrapped around each of them that demanded speed instead of stealth. Feet hit the linoleum hard, a rhythm patter that was likely heard across the entirety of the first floor. It wasn’t a smart move, but they were all clutching to hope that the door Owens had mentioned would make a reliable barricade – or at least the start of one.</p><p>El was closer to the back of the group, but since they were moving in such a tight unit she was finding it hard to land her steps cleanly. She was catching ankles, under-stepping and stumbling more than the others seemed to be. Catching Will’s foot set the pair of them flying, but when Will caught himself on Dustin’s back, El crashed hard to the floor, her front smacking to the dusty ground almost all at once. Her ankle – the one that had tripped on Will, and twisted as her weight came down on it, throbbed and caused her to cry out as she landed.<br/>“El!”<br/>The howl that responded was closer, much closer, and Mike scrambled to pick his girlfriend back up and return to the group.<br/>A sudden movement in the dark set hearts racing and then, even in the poorly lit hallway, they saw the glint of an opening mouth, wet and hungry, and filled with hundreds of sharp, deadly teeth. Joyce immediately remembered what those teeth had done to Bob, how they shredded through flesh like scissors through paper. <br/>“Move, move!” Owens wasn’t even trying to remain calm now. The time for that was over.<br/>El shrieked as Mike pulled her to her feet, her injured ankle buckling immediately. Jonathan moved to help, but El was a limp weight further back than any of them ought to be.<br/>“Jonathan!”<br/>The creature opened its mouth again, screeching before it lunged upon the lingering trio.</p><p> </p><p>Out of the darkness to the right, a metal pipe swung through the air and caught the creature in its maw with such force that it threw it back a few meters. Before it had a chance to recover from the blow, bullets fired in quick succession grounded it.<br/>“Give me.” Evelyn’s voice brought an air of calm to the others, now relieved by the arrival of help.<br/>While downed, she stepped out of the hard to see doorway and plunged a fire axe into the creature’s head, ripping it back out to bring it back down one more time, holding it there until she was certain life had left the body.<br/>“Go.” Hopper turned to the others, stepping out of the darkness, too. <br/>Evelyn ushered Mike away from El, slipping her arm around the teenager’s waist and whispering for her to lean into her, to hop if she could. Hopper came over, leaning over Evelyn and El.<br/>“You okay, kid?”<br/>“My ankle hurts.”<br/>“We can look at it inside.” Owens had ushered the other teenagers into the room, but he hung back with Joyce, not wanting anyone to be locked out.<br/>“C’mon, just lean on me.” With Evelyn shouldering most of El’s weight, it was easier to move. Hopper flanked El’s other side, just in case. Of everyone present he was the most aware of how Evelyn was still bruised and healing. One wrong step – or pressure on the wrong spot – and she could go down, too.</p><p>Thankfully, she didn’t, and they were all in the lab before anything else found them, the door closed and blocked by filing cabinets once everyone was inside.</p><p> </p><p>Hopper helped El up onto one of the lab desks, and Owens examined her ankle, greeting her like they were old friends who shared an inside joke. While he looked her over, Hopper and Evelyn filled the rest of the group in on what had happened, explaining that they knew Brenner was responsible for the creatures here, and that Hawkins had never stopped being one big experiment to him. <br/>“But you started a fire, right? We can leave?” Joyce didn’t know how they’d manage that right now, but she was all for getting out of the place that haunted her nightmares more than she had ever let on.<br/>Evelyn paused, chewing on her lip, and it was Hopper who spoke up instead.<br/>“Evie thinks we need more fires.” <br/>“What?”<br/>“My intended plan was interrupted and twisted by Brenner being here. Now, with the creatures here, too, the fire we started isn’t going to spread fast enough. We need at least one on the other side of the building, too.”<br/>“And how do we do that?” Steve asked, not exactly the number one fan of heading back into the bowels of the lab, but he also didn’t want to let Miss Carter down.<br/>“We don’t.” Evelyn said quickly, closing her eyes as she clarified what she meant. “I don’t want any of you to put yourselves at risk for my plan. I’ll get across and start the fire alone.”<br/>“Like hell you will.” Hopper’s tone was hard, twisting his trunk to face Evelyn instead of simply standing beside her. <br/>“Hop-“ He cut her off instantly.<br/>“It’s not up for discussion, Evie.”<br/>“Well everyone else is getting out.” She was already afraid of people being hurt, and Evelyn didn’t want her friends or kids to become casualties to a plan that had ended up being far more complicated than she could ever have anticipated. <br/>“How?” Will asked, one of the few in the room who understood that they weren’t going to be safe in this room for long.<br/>“Do the windows open?” Evelyn asked, looking over her shoulder towards Doctor Owens.<br/>“Not far enough to climb out. All of the ground floor windows had security latches on to prevent anyone breaking in or getting out.” The correct term would have been “escaping”, but he felt it wasn’t needed. The present company understood what horrors had occurred in Hawkins Lab without it being hinted at again.<br/>“The main entrance isn’t an option either. It’s how those things got in.” Joyce added for the sake of Hopper and Evie who only knew the monsters were in the building, but not how they had gotten in.<br/>“There has to be another way out – a fire escape or something. Owens?”<br/>The older man rubbed his jaw, clicking his tongue as he thought.<br/>“The only one I can think of is on the other side of the building. We’re too close to the front entrance here.” Plus, Hawkins Lab had never really been about volatile experiments with chemicals; just humans.<br/>“There has to be something.” Joyce insisted, and Owens closed his eyes to try and improve his memories of a place he could only wish to forget.<br/>“What about the second floor? The fire won’t have spread that far yet.” Hopper knew that their fire had been started under less than ideal circumstances. There had been no accelerant, and a lot of reliance on Lady Luck – if she was on their side.</p><p>Owens paused, looking up at the ceiling and pointing, like he was trying to draw the pathways above them. He crossed the room – still following his finger – and then spun back to the group with a small, nervous smile.<br/>“I think it might work.”<br/>“There’s a fire escape?” Joyce asked hopefully.<br/>“Yes, well, not quite, but yes.”<br/>“And what does that mean?” Evelyn was always wary of people she had only just met, even if others did trust them. Owens’ vague answer left an uncomfortable tingle down her spine.<br/>“It was a ladder, not one of the traditional fire escapes we’re getting used to seeing.” He explained slowly. “It’s attached to the window and needs to be unlatched to drop down.”<br/>“It’s a way out. Take it.” Hopper instructed. “If you go the way we came the fire shouldn’t have spread too far, but the heat might be enough to keep the creatures at bay.” That was what he was hoping for anyway. Hopper had seen too many people lose their life to these abominations.<br/>“Maybe we should be sure the path is clear first.” Evelyn suggested, tilting her head every so subtly towards El. Her ankle was definitely sprained, and the group would have to move slower because of it. If something came after them – be it the monsters or Brenner’s men – they could be in serious trouble. <br/>Hopper nodded, understanding almost immediately how Evie was thinking. He looked at the group and his lips flattened into a thin, tight line. It usually meant he was ready with a plan, Evelyn had come to understand.</p><p>“Us six will go and check the path. Then, I’ll come back for the rest of you. Owens can drop the ladder while we make our way back up.” He turned to Evelyn, almost reaching out for her hand before catching himself. “Evie, you okay to watch the kids?” She could handle herself – he knew that now.<br/>She nodded, scraping flyaway hairs from her face. “Go – while we have this chance.”<br/>Hopper let Owens lead the way, but stuck close to him, with Joyce and the older teenagers following behind. <br/>The last sight Evie saw of the group was Hopper moving between them all to keep his eye on their surroundings. “Be safe.” She whispered, realising that this was the first time he had walked away from her in days.<br/>Already she felt his absence, and the anxiety began creeping back up her back, reminding her just how reliant they had become on each other in the last week. Her heart beat faster, the rate gradually climbing until she swallowed her nerves back down, feeling them burn her stomach as she forced her emotions to settle.</p><p>Evelyn turned around to face the group of teenagers who were now looking at her expectantly, but their eyes slowly moved to the door, where a voice sent a chill down her spine.<br/>“Ha, there’s the glorified babysitter. They’ve had me looking for you everywhere.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hit a huge block with this chapter - sorry it took so long!</p><p>I'm back in work tomorrow, but hope to  have something posted at the weekend. I got a lot of future parts drafted/noted while I was struggling here.</p><p>Thanks for sticking with me &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Glorified Babysitter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Evelyn moved to place herself firmly between Mickey and the teenagers. The bandage wrapped around his head brought her a bolt of pleasure; she had done that to save Hopper, but also because Mickey had fucked her over too many times and she had simply taken it, believing everyone who said he was good for her. She had been young, foolish, and now she knew how little she owed to the slimeball in front of her. </p><p> </p><p>Evelyn had put Mickey to the back of her mind long before she left Milwaukee. He crept back through, of course, whenever someone mentioned him or after she had left a party where he had been invited. She had done her best to ignore him, to stop him from getting under her skin again, but there were still those handful of sleepless nights when she wished things could be different; when she wished she had never even met Mickey. She hated herself for ever thinking he might be her soulmate. She hated everyone else who had told her that Mickey was the best thing to ever happen to her. They had tried to sell her a “happy ever after” where Prince Charming was just a slimy toad in disguise.</p><p>Then she had realised how the relationship had shaped her. How the thing she considered her biggest mistake was actually a blessing. She had discovered all of the things she didn’t want to be, come to see how this dream life in the city was built on a foundation of lies and false illusions. When she had been younger “regrets” had been a nightmare inducing word. No kid wanted to have regrets. Parents threw it around to make them think, to deter them from making some of the choice they felt strongest about. <br/>“You’ll regret not going.”<br/>“You’ll regret staying.”<br/>“You’ll regret giving your life up for that man.”<br/>If Mickey had ever shown an interest and spent a holiday with Evelyn’s family before her mother passed, she might have uttered those particular words to her daughter. And the Evelyn back then may not have listened – because she was nineteen and headstrong and thought she knew the world. She knew now that that was the biggest mistake any college age kid made; because they didn’t know the world and they barely knew themselves either. They knew ideals and fell for them time and time again until their skin toughened, and their heart had been broken in ways they never thought possible.</p><p>And they matured. And maturity had brought Evelyn back home, back to Hawkins; a town where she never thought she’d see Mickey. She had come home unashamed by her mistakes and failures, more confident than before. And hell would have its first Ice Age before she let Mickey destroy that. He didn’t have that power anymore. He was a speck of nothing to her now. No more pangs in her healing heart, no more nights of doubt and wonder where he took centre stage. Nothing. He was nothing to Evelyn now. Less than nothing, in fact. But these kids – those who she would soon, hopefully, have the pleasure to teach, were everything. Maybe “glorified babysitter” was right, because she wouldn’t let Mickey – or any other mindless drone who followed Brenner – harm them.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you want, Mickey?”<br/>“Let’s not play this game, doll. We both know what I want.” His gaze moved slowly to the left of Evelyn, dropping to where El was leaning on Max. “Papa’s been looking for you, little one.”</p><p>It had never dawned on Evelyn that Mickey could have been a part of Brenner’s team for a long time. She knew he had never come to Hawkins, but that clearly hadn’t been Brenner’s only site for dark, unethical experiments. Maybe he had only been bumped up the ranks from lab cleaner when he flouted his connection to Hawkins through an ex-girlfriend he thought he could win back with a shiny diamond and a false promise of forever.</p><p>“Papa can choke on the appendage you barely know how to use.” Evelyn remained very conscious of the impressionable teens currently in her care who would, after the summer, be expected to respect her as their science teacher. She didn’t need rumours circulating about the time she told a man to “choke on a dick” when she was fairly certain she would have to grovel to keep her job when this long night was over.<br/>Mickey’s face darkened, his jaw tightening as he took the first step to close the distance. Evelyn held her stance, unwavering under his incensed stare. She had sent him to the ground twice in as many days this week. She could do it again if she had to.<br/>“Give me the girl.”<br/>“Over my dead body.”<br/>Mickey stopped, shrugged softly and then reached a hand behind his back. “If you insist, doll.” He pulled back a pistol, thinking he had the time to go slow, to enjoy the fear in Evelyn’s eyes. <br/>But he didn’t.<br/>The second the pistol was in sight, Mickey was flung across the room into one of the lab desks. El grabbed Evelyn’s outstretched arm to steady herself and the science teacher glanced around to check on her.<br/>“You okay?” She asked, noticing the reddish smear that remained after El wiped her nose on her sleeve.<br/>Evelyn had never really witnessed El’s powers before, but she quickly reminded herself that this wasn’t the time to be overwhelmed. There was a fire in the building, and men running loose who still wanted to hurt pretty much anyone they found – and she was trying not to think too much about the Demogorgon since they sent her spiralling back to that first encounter in her kitchen.</p><p>After El nodded that she was okay, Evelyn started ushering the kids clockwise around the far desks, guiding them towards the door while keeping herself between them and Mickey. He was grunting, his forearm and weight pressing down on the sturdy lab desk as he fought to catch his breath. His lidded gaze lifted to Evelyn, and she felt her spine straighten under it. Gently pushing El into Mike’s supportive arms, she swallowed and blocked the exit for Mickey as soon as the kids were through it.<br/>“Head up to the others, call for Hop.” She hoped he was already turning back for them, that he’d collide with them on the staircase and rush them to safety before anyone else came across them.<br/>She heard their feet hitting the linoleum as they took off into the darkened building, Mike and Max helping El along as quickly as they could. </p><p> </p><p>“We could have had everything, doll.” Mickey said, back to smirking cockily at Evelyn once more. <br/>“I never wanted everything.” She told him, standing firm in the doorway. “Everything you have is built on the pain and suffering of innocent people – innocent children.”<br/>“But one day people will know my name. When the Russians are crushed because of what we have achieved with Doctor Brenner – “<br/>“You’ve achieved nothing! Everything he has done will be buried in the biggest hole this government has and he will be forgotten – and so will you.”<br/>Mickey’s jaw tightened and he took a step closer to Evelyn, who resisted every screaming urge to step back. <br/>“It’s not going to be like that.”<br/>“Isn’t it? Do you really think people in America will be happy to hear that Brenner experimented on their own people – on their own children?” Her eyebrows raised as realisation dawned upon her. “You don’t think that will happen, do you? You’ve deluded yourself into thinking that you can get away with anything while hiding behind his lab coat.”<br/>“He is a great man.”<br/>“And how many times has that been said about a monster?” She tilted her head. “He won’t protect you, Mickey. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”<br/>“Says the girl who ruined my future for her own.” Mickey was waving the gun as he spoke, but his finger wasn’t on the trigger – yet. “No one but Brenner would take me on after your display of feminism or whatever the fuck you want to call it. I was whispered about behind my back - <i>me</i> - the guy anyone would kill to be friends with.”<br/>“In freshman year.” Evelyn shook her head, jaw slack with disbelief. “People change, Mickey. They realise that popularity contests and athletic prowess will not get them through life. They understand that the world isn’t going to hand over everything they want, and that they have to work for it – with their <i>own</i> work.”<br/>“I told you; if you stuck with me you’d have everything.” His voice was tight, as though he was struggling to handle his emotions, but Evelyn had never seen Mickey lose control on that before and she didn’t buy into it now.<br/>“Everything I never wanted.” Her fingers curled around the doorframe, and she shook her head softly. “I didn’t know who I was when I met you. I let myself believe I could be the person you wanted – and that was a huge mistake. I never wanted the city with its bright lights and non-stop action. I didn’t need some huge house in the suburbs and a clique of entitled, selfish friends. And I definitely did not need a man who would dictate every moment of my life and tell me that I wasn’t good enough to change the world.” She kept calm, speaking slowly, saying all the things she wished she could have said years ago. </p><p>Coming home to Hawkins had removed the city smog from her mind, revitalised the confidence she had left with at eighteen, and reminded her of the very few things she needed to be happy. This was not the time to be acknowledging that Hopper had a spot on that list, and she was instead doing her best to ignore that revelation.</p><p>“Brenner doesn’t want you to leave here unless it’s in a body bag.” Mickey seemed to consider the gun in his hand for a moment, reaching back to rub at his stiff neck, too. It was obvious his body was still aching from being tossed across the room like an unwanted ragdoll.<br/>Evelyn’s heart started racing again, hammering against her ribcage as though it was trying to tell her to run – to run far and to run fast. But she didn’t. The longer she stood between Mickey and the others the better chance they had to escape the lab and get somewhere safe. She had never judged herself to be the heroic type, usually thinking that her life was so average that she’d never find herself in a position to even consider it.<br/>“And you’re going to be the one to put me there?” She asked, wondering if bravery always came with a side of anxiety dressed with fear.<br/>To answer, Mickey raised the gun once more.</p><p> </p><p>The shot never went off – but another did. Evelyn recoiled, the sound of the gunshot making her ears ring. She heard Mickey cry out – muffled over the deafening ring – but the sight of him falling to the ground, dropping the gun and clutching his arm instead was obvious enough to her. The hand clamping down on her shoulder made her scream, but the voice that followed calmed her almost immediately.<br/>“Easy. Are you okay?” Hopper looked Evie over, his touch returning to her arm once she relaxed.<br/>“I’m fine. Did the kids find you? Are they safe?”<br/>“Yeah. They got out.” Hopper’s gaze travelled back across to Mickey. “He didn’t hurt you?”<br/>She shook her head vigorously, ignoring the howling and name calling coming from behind her now. Hopper moved around her quickly, snatching the gun off the floor from where it had fallen and where Mickey’s fingers were stretching for it.<br/>“Let’s go. I’m sure someone will stumble upon this one soon enough.” Hopper’s voice was void of concern as he looked down at Mickey, the blood smearing across the linoleum from the hole in his shoulder.<br/>“You can’t leave me here!” Mickey yelled through gritted teeth, reaching in vain to grasp Hopper’s ankle. The Chief took an easy step back to put himself out of reach.<br/>“You’d have left Evie here – dead.” Hopper snarled, furious at himself for leaving Evie with little to defend herself with.<br/>“No, I – “<br/>“Always a story or an excuse.” Evelyn cut him off, pushing past Hopper to scowl down at Mickey. “I almost sorry for you. But the difference between you and me is that I care about people; even those who are disgustingly wicked.” Sighing she glanced towards the door. “I’m going to burn this place to the ground. I suggest you find the door before it blows up and buries you here.” </p><p>She wouldn’t help Mickey – not even to his feet – but she couldn’t just walk away knowing he could burn. She’d give him the warning, but the rest was up to him. If he made it out, then she knew someone would track him down. If he stayed, well, maybe he’d be pulled from the rubble. She had wasted enough of her life on him.</p><p>“We don’t have much time.” Hopper reminded her gently, pulling her back to the matter at hand.<br/>“Right. Let’s go.” She grasped his hand and tugged him out of the door, turning left despite not knowing where that would take them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Work is busy - but I hope you enjoy this chapter! &lt;3<br/>Next one is started, so I hope to have it up sooner rather than later.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. The Lost Minds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Three floors up, Evelyn watched at Hopper lit the bit of kindling they had found and tossed it onto the stack of empty filing boxes and forgotten, dusty papers. The flame flickered and then caught, slowly spreading out and licking at the scuffed linoleum.<br/>“Kind of wishing we’d siphoned the gas from my car.” Evelyn scratched at the back of her neck, still displeased with how slowly the fire was spreading.<br/>“Hey, the one we set downstairs is spreading fine.” Hopper couldn’t deny that the fire was moving slow, but it <i>was</i> moving. That mattered. It would meet the gas eventually and then he could only hope that it was enough to floor this place of bad memories and tortured ghosts.<br/>“One more. On the ground floor.”<br/>“Evie, the ground floor will be crawling with Brenner’s men.” Hopper knew how people like that moved. They’d patrol the exits, watch the stairwells, and try to block anyone from leaving the building. They had gotten lucky no one thought to cover the fire escape, and hadn’t thought they might go higher, but their luck had to run out eventually.<br/>“Hop, you know as well as I do that the kids put the cannisters downstairs, and that a fire large enough down there will cause the most damage to the structure of the building.”<br/>He wasn’t happy about it, but Hopper had to admit Evie was right, and he did so with a gruff grunt as he scrubbed his hand over his face.</p><p> </p><p>Hopper wanted to get Evie out of here. He wanted that more than anything else right now – but she was stubborn. Much like her brother, she wouldn’t leave a task unfinished. Hopper hadn’t been in the squadron with Joey when he was killed in action, but he had asked around after his friend and had been disappointed but not surprised to hear that Joey had died trying to collect the rest of their resources from a base under fire. The soldier he had spoken to said Joey had gone back for the last of the dropped medical supplies to support the fallen men in his platoon. Evie would die with that same foolish determination she shared with Joey if Hopper didn’t do something. He couldn’t let that happen…but he also couldn’t leave Hawkins Lab with the possibility of the gate being unstable. </p><p> </p><p>“I’ll do it. You get out.”<br/>Evelyn turned to him, eye wide and stunned, her mouth agape, and she shoved hard against his chest. <br/>“You are infuriating sometimes; do you know that?” She wanted to yell at him but was wary of drawing attention to themselves. Empty buildings had a habit of echoing rather badly, and she had already stared down the barrel of enough guns to last a lifetime. “I’m not leaving you in here, just like you wouldn’t leave me.”<br/>“Evie-“<br/>“No. We’ll see this through together and we’ll get out together.” She shook her head, refusing to hear any argument Hopper had to offer. “I need to make sure you don’t stand me up for dinner again.”<br/>A small smile tugged at his tight lips. This wasn’t really the time for jokes and flirtatious chatter, but he recognised and appreciated the need for normalcy. They’d chased monsters and past lives over the last week and it was exhausting. Hopper didn’t know what Evie was expecting when she moved home, but he sure as hell knew it wasn’t this.</p><p> </p><p>Gunshots and cries of terror carried through the building. Both Evelyn and Hopper turned around, staring into the darkness. The commotion was far enough away that neither felt the need to run, but it served as an unwanted reminder of the enemies lurking in the shadows of the burning building.<br/>“Come on.” Hopper reached for her hand, enveloping her long, thin fingers in his.<br/>It felt like a natural fit – her fingers twined with his. A simple, seemingly innocent gesture that could mean so much more. Evelyn couldn’t let herself think on it now, as much as her mind was screeching for her to acknowledge how he held her hand with ease, how he wanted to keep her close. She pressed down on those thoughts, trying to stuff them back into an already full box of feelings that was begging for attention. Now was not the time to dive into the plot of a romance novel, to pick at every little detail and gesture to figure out what it all meant. There was no time for pining or daydreaming; not when the world as they knew it could be about to end.</p><p> </p><p>She let Hopper lead the way, pressing her spine against the cold wall when he encouraged her too. Illegible voices called out in the distance, but whenever they sounded like they were close by Hopper would tug her down a different hallway or cut through another abandoned room. Neither of them spoke, and Evelyn noticed Hopper’s hand growing clammy in her own the longer he held it. His grip grew tighter once they reached the ground floor and she wondered if his hold on the pistol was just as firm. He held it at chest height, arm curled in and finger resting not on the trigger but on the trigger guard instead.  He was ready to use it should he have to, but Evelyn was still clutching to the hope that this wouldn’t turn into a shoot out to get out. </p><p>“This is the closest we’re going to get without coming across any unfriendly faces.” Hopper whispered, peering around the corner to make sure no one was coming their way. He wasn’t in the least bit comfortable with their current position. They were exposed from both sides, and there was too strong a chance that the ground floor would boast the most dangers. <br/>“It’s hardly the best spot.” Evelyn mumbled, mimicking his movement to see if there was any chance at all of creeping further around the corner, and maybe finding a small room to set the final fire.<br/>“It’ll have to do.”<br/>“But if someone comes this way then they could extinguish it easily enough.” That was her fear. This was the fire she was banking on. The other two would help, but this would be the one that brought Hawkins Lab to the ground in a pile of soot and broken bricks.<br/>“Evie - we don’t have the time. There are still faceless monsters in here, along with monsters of the human kind - and the only thing they have in common is that they all want us dead.”</p><p>She stared at Hop, knowing that he was absolutely right. It was dangerous and stupid to keep looking. They had spent more than enough time in the building already, thanks to the twist of events that saw them running from Demogorgons and the armed, unquestioning men in Brenner’s employment.<br/>“Give me the lighter.” She held her left hand out and dropped the junk she had been carrying in her right; papers, bits of ripped cardboard, and a dead branch that had made its way into the lab through a broken window.<br/>Hopper handed it over and kept watch while she started the fire, blowing gently on it to help it catch quicker. She needed it to spread quickly, to already be on its way to a raging inferno before anyone else discovered the flames.<br/>“Come on. We’re going to have to make a break for the front.” Backtracking to the ladder their friends had taken could be risky if the second floor fire was burning strong. If they were blocked off by the flames and had to turn back then they could find themselves trapped between two of the fires they had started – and there wasn’t any time to waste with the gas hissing almost silently through the building. </p><p>Hopper took Evie’s hand in his own, not to guide her, but to make sure they didn’t get separated for anything. They were – foolishly, some might say – heading towards the noises that had seemed so far away at first. The yells were louder and the growls almost seemed like they could be immediately in front of them. Hopper wasn’t stupid; he knew they would have to fight their way out of the lab at this point. He just didn’t know who or <i>what</i> they’d be up against.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn was pressed close to Hopper’s back. She knew what they were doing, where they were headed, and her heart was threatening to beat out of her chest again. She needed Hopper’s scent, his touch, and his short sighs of relief to keep her grounded, to stop the panic bubbling over. She swallowed hard, glancing behind them to see the wispy ribbon of smoke twirl from the darkness they had come from. Behind it there was a dim light, a warm light that almost reminded her of the sky at sunset. <br/>She was distracted by the beauty of it, her mind caught up in the weird attraction to something so dangerous, that when the gun fired she screamed, falling to the floor and thinking for just a second that it was herself who had been shot. Pain radiated up her arm, but she soon realised that the pain was born in her hand, in the fingers Hopper was squeezing so very, very tight.<br/>It brought her back to the moment, crashing back, hard – harder than she had hit the dust covered linoleum. <br/>“Hop!” Her eyes immediately spotted the slick crimson in the dim light, the pool spreading over his thigh and onto the dirty floor.<br/>He was groaning, cursing through clenched teeth as he fought against instinct to keep the gun in his hand and ignore the burning wound.<br/>Pulling her hand free, Evelyn applied pressure to the thick muscle, wincing as the blood continue to flow between her fingers.</p><p> </p><p>“Is this really how it ends? Both of you on the floor like star-crossed lovers destined to never be?” The words dripped with disdain and Evelyn peered over her shoulder to see Martin Brenner lowering his gun to his side as he stepped forward, moving slowly, stalking towards them like a tiger would its prey.<br/>“I’ll make sure you go with us.” Hopper snarled, breathing hard through his nose as he tried to raise his gun again, only to have it gently brought down by Evie who was trying to get him to apply pressure to the gunshot.<br/>“You’re in no state to be making threats, Chief Hopper.” Brenner hadn’t misfired. He wanted the Chief to bleed out slowly, to see him realise he had lost. <br/>“He’s not. But I am.” Evelyn pushed herself to her feet, tugging the gun free from Hopper’s hand. She raised it, keeping it trained on Brenner as she took the smallest step forward. Inside she was shaking, voices screaming at her to ask if she knew what she was doing. She just hoped it didn’t reflect in her tight stare.<br/>Brenner tilted his head and smiled at her. “Ever the surprise, Miss Carter, but perhaps you should put that down before you get hurt.”<br/>Before his lips could close, Evelyn had fired a shot at the floor, narrowly missing the polished shoes Brenner wore. Quickly, she aimed the gun back at him. <br/>“I had two brothers in the military and a grandpa who loved to hunt. If anyone is getting hurt tonight it’ll be you.” </p><p> </p><p>She disliked guns, and she disliked violence, but her grandpa had trained her to shoot before she moved to the city. He thought it was the one good lesson he could give to the granddaughter he had never really known what to do with. Evelyn had entertained him, shot the cans he set up for her, but had always silently promised herself that she’d never point a gun at another living being - not after two of her brothers died in a senseless bloodbath of a war. She guessed not all promises needed to be kept and if it was between breaking a vow to herself or surviving the night and saving Hopper, she knew what she had to choose. </p><p> </p><p>Brenner merely chuckled at her, the surprise quickly erased from his face as though it had never been there to start with. Even with her warning shot he wasn’t taking her seriously, still smirking like he had the upper hand.<br/>“You won’t get out of here alive, Brenner.” She reiterated, widening her stance slightly. “How many of your men have already been ripped apart by the monsters you brought here?”<br/>“They are all replaceable. And soon there will be more of my team here, and they will re-open that which you have sealed. I will have my army and I think you’ll find that I will leave here tonight.” His eyes darkened and for a moment it seemed like a different person. “These ‘monsters’ are part of a greater event – something you couldn’t even begin to understand.”<br/>“Mindflayer.” Hopper breathed, memories of the previous year resurfacing above the searing pain clouding everything else.<br/>“What?” Evelyn briefly glanced down at him, but didn’t dare take her stare away from Brenner for more than a second.<br/>“After Will had been in the Upside Down – after he had been touched by those things – there was a connection – ah, fuck – that tied him to a thing down there.” He wheezed, gritting his teeth together to try and stay focused. “The kids called it the Mindflayer. It controlled Will, tried to use him to get what it wanted.” Hopper looked at Brenner, noticing that the man had very little reaction to what he was saying. It only confirmed the new suspicions for the Chief.</p><p>“That’s not Brenner. Not anymore.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A lot more was planned for this chapter, but it seemed like too good a point to cut it off here xD</p><p>As always, thanks for reading! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0040"><h2>40. Hell Hath No Fury Like A Science Teacher Pt.2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“That’s why he needed to open the gate.” Hopper was starting to feel woozy from the pain and the blood loss. His leg was heavy and felt as hot as the fires that were burning within the lab. “He needed to strengthen the connection – let his new Master through.”<br/>Evelyn stepped back, unnerved by the menacing smirk spreading across Brenner’s face. It looked unnatural, like the skin was being pulled that way by wire.<br/>“How do we stop it?” She asked, the gun heavy in her clammy hands.<br/>“You can’t stop it. It’s too late. We’re here.” It was Brenner’s voice, but not his voice at the same time. There was an echo coming from the pit of his stomach, like a ventriloquist dummy with a hand wedged inside while the voice came from another.<br/>“Then we’ll send you back. It’s been done before.”<br/>“But not by you, never by you.” Brenner stepped closer, and she could make out his eyes in the dim light. They looked darker, somehow, pupils dilated. “You are nothing.”</p><p>Evelyn knew she wasn’t like El. She couldn’t toss things across the room with the power of her mind or seal a trans-dimensional gate purely with concentration. She was smart though. And smartness should never be discredited, even if doesn’t seem overwhelmingly special. Normal people changed the world every day with intelligent choices and inventive concepts. She had done the same for her small town, and although it took her a second to think of it, she knew it.</p><p>“I was the one to poison your little portals to our world.” She began, speaking clearly and slowly, wanting whatever was speaking through Brenner to understand. “You and your kind are unwanted weeds, leeching the life out of something far more precious than you could ever understand. And I doused you in weedkiller. It might be slow, and it might take a week before you feel that burn of chemicals reaching your roots, but it’s coming, and you will feel that toxic fire burning where it hurts most.” She smiled, realising truly, for the first time, that she was unlikely to make it out of Hawkins Lab after all. “And when you feel it – because I made sure that you will – I hope you remember this ‘nothing’ and realise I was so much more.”</p><p>Smoke was polluting the air. Evelyn could feel it in the tightness of her chest, the short breaths that she was taking. The space was getting warmer too, uncomfortably so. When Brenner moved closer she could see the sheen of sweat on his brow.<br/>“Getting a little hot for you?” She asked, finger sliding subtly to the trigger.<br/>Brenner lunged for her, a primal growl rising from the back of his throat where another lurked. Before he could touch her, Evelyn had squeezed the trigger. And again. And again. And again.<br/>He fell to the floor, a lifeless lump with hot, sticky blood oozing from the four holes in his chest. Evelyn shot him again, and then Hopper’s hand rested against the back of her leg. His touch was weak, but hot, and it brought Evelyn back from the dark, fearful place that had consumed her mind for those few brief seconds.<br/>“He’s dead, Evie.” The words came out on a long, tired breath that made the hair on her arms stand up before she turned to Hop.</p><p>He was pale, a thin sweat on his face but she couldn’t tell if it was from the fire or the fight to stay conscious. He’d lost the ability to keep the pressure on his thigh and Evelyn quickly dropped to her knees to tend to him.<br/>“Stay with me, Hop.”<br/>“I wish I could.”<br/>“You can.” She set about ripping the bottom of her t-shirt, using a small hole from a previously unnoticed snag to tear through the dyed cotton. The warm air licked at her exposed stomach, but she ignored it, quickly setting about tying a tourniquet around Hopper’s leg. She didn’t know how much it would help after the lost minutes, but she needed to try to do something.<br/>Hopper didn’t fight her, but only because he didn’t have the strength for it. His eyes were as heavy as boulders and his body felt weak; the kind of weak that came with a bad flu and lingered long after the sniffles and coughing had stopped.<br/>“C’mon.” He groaned in protest as she slipped her arm under his and tried to hoist him up. It took everything she had, but Evelyn got Hopper upright and leaned against the wall with him while she caught her breath and steadied herself to take his weight again.<br/>“I’m not making it out of here, Evie.”<br/>“Yes; you are.” She wasn’t going to leave him to the fire or the monsters.<br/>“There’s too much blood. The creatures will be here before you can get me to the door.” He had seen what they could do, and his mind was filled again with thoughts of Bob, who when he should have been safe was ripped apart in the most horrific way. No horror movie depiction of gore came close to what they had seen happen that day. <br/>“I’m not leaving you here, Hop. You wouldn’t leave me.”<br/>They heard the too-familiar, spine tingling howl somewhere close by and Evelyn realised that they didn’t have the time to argue. She just had to move with Hopper and get him out of there before he got hurt further.</p><p> </p><p>She pushed off from the wall, Hopper groaning as he was pulled along since it only woke the ache in his muscles and the pain spreading through his weak, limp body. Evelyn gritted her teeth, tugging him through the smoky haze as she refused to acknowledge the screaming pain coursing through her own body. She had been damaged before this all began, and now her healing body didn’t need to be supporting another. It didn’t want to be supporting another, but Evelyn didn’t care about her own needs. She only cared about getting Hopper out of there.</p><p> </p><p>The howl came from behind them, back where Brenner’s body was still on the ground. She glanced back to see a Demogorgon by him, a black smoke rising from the lips of the old man. It swirled and morphed in the air, anger permeating the smog as it rose higher, momentarily holding the attention of its once pet. It hovered and Evelyn felt it staring at her despite there being nothing to stare at her with. The smoke held no form, had no face or distinguishable features, and yet it stared. Evelyn started to turn away when the fire finally met the gas, and the first explosion rocked the building.</p><p> </p><p>The howls were ones of pain, dying cries engulfed in hot, wild flames that brought ceiling tiles and debris crashing down. Evelyn fell to one knee, Hopper roaring as he landed hard on his bleeding leg. She shushed an apology, tensing up as she pushed both of them back to their feet. The fire was at their back, the foam ceiling tiles working as extra kindling now. It was spreading quickly, burning up their path, and anything or anyone that got in its way. <br/>“You’re going to get yourself killed.” Hopper coughed out, trying to pull his arm away from Evie.<br/>“And you’d rather I run outside and tell your daughter that I left you in here to burn?” She tugged him back, wrapping her arm tighter around his solid form. <br/>“I’d rather you didn’t die trying to save me.”<br/>“Then shut up and let me save you.” She dragged him along, her own steps taking everything she had now. <br/>Her feet were heavy, and her muscles cried out with each forced stride, but Evelyn kept going. She could see the doors ahead; the doors that led to that spacious foyer where Bob had died the previous year. Each fought for step took them closer to safety, closer to freedom, closer to this night being over.</p><p>Her limbs were shaking, her whole body straining to support Hopper’s weight as well as her own. She was tired, so fucking tired, but she wouldn’t abandon him – couldn't abandon him. She bit into her lower lip, feeling the metallic tang of blood as she pierced the delicate flesh. Evelyn could collapse outside. Once she was outside they’d be safe; the others would be there to pull them back from the building before any more explosions.<br/>She kept those thoughts on loop as she dragged her feet along, feeling the toes of her sneakers scrape against the linoleum. </p><p>They had to push through the double doors to the foyer, a low rumble rising up through Evelyn’s throat as she encouraged Hopper along. She wasn’t sure if he was even conscious since his grunts and groans had stopped completely about a metre before the doors. She didn’t dare look across in case the distraction felled her. Instead, she pushed the thought of Hopper’s current state to the back of her mind and kept pushing on, left foot, then right, then left again.<br/>“We’re almost there.” She growled out through gritted teeth, unsure if she was encouraging herself or Hop.</p><p>She had just reached the centre of the foyer when another explosion shook the building, the support beams behind them crashing to the ground and bringing the second floor with it. Smoke and dust filled the air and once again she could feel the heat of the flames licking at her back. The force of the explosion knocked her to the ground again, throwing both of them forward and blasting the glass out of the left side windows.<br/>Evelyn cried out, feeling her aching body smash into the cold, dirty floor again, old wounds reopening on impact. Rolling onto her back, she glanced around, coughing hard now and struggling to get a full breath of non-toxic air. Her gaze fell on Hopper’s motionless form. He was facedown, blood smeared around his leg where he had been shot and he looked paler than she had ever seen him. As she pulled herself across the floor to him, she could see the reassuring rise and fall of his back. She knew he wasn’t out of the woods yet, but that simple, instinctive action meant that he had time. <br/>Her legs were aching so much that she didn’t think she could stand up herself, but with the smooth, flat linoleum she could pull herself along and with every last ounce of energy that she had she could pull and push Hopper to the front doors. Her cries of exertion made it outside and when she looked up Steve and Doctor Owens were pulling the doors open for them, reaching down to help them both.<br/>“Hop’s been shot.” She coughed out, using Steve’s arm to try and pull herself up.<br/>Another blast knocked them back, but the air was clean here. It was cold and fresh and though it hurt to breathe in, Evelyn had never been more thankful for it. In that moment she thought she’d be grateful of every breath she took from here on out.  She was coughing hard when Steve reached for her again, pulling her to her feet and shouldering her weight like she had done to Hopper just moments before.<br/>Owens was helped by Jonathan, the two of them carrying Hop to where a safety line had been established by those of Owens’ men who had survived. An ambulance was already waiting there, and the EMTs were quick to scramble into action.</p><p>“They need to check you out, too.” Steve said, leading Evelyn towards it.<br/>“After they’re done with Hop. I’ll be fine.” She made to shrug Steve off, but her knees buckled at that moment and the student had to catch the teacher.<br/>“Whoa.”<br/>Before Steve could say anything else or ask Evelyn how she was faring, the night air was filled with the inhuman screams of the Demogorgons, and when Evelyn looked back around, she saw Hawkins Lab ablaze. Another explosion blew out the last of the windows and replaces the glass with orange flames. Although the structure still stood, it was easy to see that the inside was almost entirely gutted already; the local authority would have no choice but to order its demolition for the safety of Hawkins residents. </p><p>And after realising that, realising that it was finally over, Evelyn let herself slip into unconsciousness.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And now we may return to our irregularly scheduled fluff.<br/>Possibly.<br/>Maybe.<br/>I make no promises.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0041"><h2>41. The Good Stuff</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Hopper finally managed to crack his eyelids open, he regretted it instantly. Why were hospitals such a blinding, eye burning shade of white? Cautious this time, he squinted, allowing himself to adjust to the light a little at a time. He became aware of something in the back of his hand, and the tube connected to it which seemed to be slowly providing pain relief for him. His leg was hidden under layers of thin, starched blankets, but he could feel the dressing strapped around it, and the skin beneath felt hot and tight. Glancing around the room he first saw El curled up on a small cot that must have been brought in for her. She was fast asleep, face half hidden by locks of dark hair that had grown steadily since her escape from the lab.</p><p>Behind her, standing at the half open door, was Evie. Hop smiled when he noticed her, and then he leaned slightly – and painfully – to the right to see who it was she was talking with. It was Owens. They were both smiling, but their tiredness was obvious, too. Evie tucked a wayward curl behind her ear and Hopper noticed that the dressing on her arm was a fresh one, and the ripped, bloody clothes had been swapped out for a pair of blue scrubs which she had partially hidden beneath a borrowed coat. At first, he didn’t know whose it was, but then she twisted ever so slightly, and he saw the Hawkins Police badge sewn onto it. Callahan’s. The memories of the night before slowly broke through the fog, and Hopper recalled that Callahan had gone to the hospital to watch over Reg Carter while Evie had gone with Hopper to the lab. He quickly remembered the rest of the events of that evening and instead longed for that medicated haze of nothingness again.</p><p> </p><p>Before he could get weighed down by the traumatic memories, Evie slipped back into the room, her smile widening when she noticed he was awake.<br/>“Hey, how’re you feeling?” She asked, sitting herself gently down in the plastic chair beside his bed, keeping her voice quiet so as not to disturb El from her peaceful slumber.<br/>“Like I’ve been doped up.” Hopper admitted with a small smirk, not wanting to let her know that his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, that he had a fuzzy ache rippling through his body even with the pain relief pumped into him, or that he was still terrified that he had lost her and El and all he cared about.<br/>“That’s because they gave you the good stuff.” She smirked, offering him the cup of water, keeping her hand resting on it as he raised it to his lips, her eyes focused on the slight shake of his hand. “Me? I got a lecture and a handful of pills.” <br/>“A lecture?” He rested the plastic cup in his lap, his fingers loosely wrapped around it.<br/>Evie held up her bandaged arm. “I should have had stitches. So, I got a brief reprimand for not getting medical attention sooner.” She rolled her eyes, brushing her tangled hair back from her face. Hop could see the neat stitches near her hairline, and then he remembered the car crash and the monsters in the road. His Blazer was probably a mess, and he wondered if it was still sitting at the side of the road or if someone had towed it away yet. <br/>The thought was swept away with a gentle touch.<br/>Her hand over his reminded him that she was safe – that they were both safe.</p><p> </p><p>But what about everyone else?</p><p> </p><p>“Where are the others?” He coughed before taking another sip of water.<br/>“At home. Joyce wanted to take El, too, once we knew you were going to be okay, but she insisted on staying.” Evie glanced across at the sleeping teenager, smiling softly. “Since I had to stay anyway to check on my dad I offered to look after her.” She looked back to Hop, squeezing his hand gently. “Everyone is safe, Hop.”<br/>“Good, good.”<br/>She tilted her head to the side, smiling inquisitively. “Not going to ask about yourself?”<br/>It hadn’t occurred to him to check what his own injuries were. Now though, he was worried what the outcome was. He knew men from Vietnam who had been shot in the leg and never walked properly again. Some had been confined to wheelchairs, struggled by with canes and pain killers. Hop didn’t want the pills again. That was a dark, dark hole he didn’t need to revisit.<br/>“You’ll be fine after a few weeks of rest.” Evie reassured him, sensing the worry without him needing to speak. “You’ll need some help with certain tasks for a little while, and probably need a chair or a set of crutches for the same time, but the bullet didn’t damage anything vital. The muscle needs to heal, and you’ll need to rebuild the strength from before, but Hawkins Chief of Police will still be around for some time to come.” She grinned, winking playfully. “Unless of course you decide to take early retirement after all of this.”<br/>“No chance.” Hopper scoffed, his eyes soft and light now the danger had passed. “The free time would drive me crazy.”<br/>“Oh, I’m sure you’d find a hobby to keep you occupied. Maybe model airplanes?” <br/>Hopper laughed at the suggestion, trying to picture those tiny, detailed parts in his large, meaty hands. No, that definitely wasn’t for him. <br/>“Speaking of work – what about you?” Hopper was concerned for Evie. He knew how much she loved her job and running off without telling a soul this last week was likely to have jeopardised her position at Hawkins High. If they didn’t want her back then she would likely have to move away again and Hopper – selfishly - really didn’t want that.<br/>Her smile grew tight, her eyes a little uncertain. “Owens said he was going to fix it? He wouldn’t tell me how but just said that I had to trust him.” She relaxed, raising her eyebrows for a second before flicking her gaze back to Hopper. “Although that was after he tried to seduce me with a position on some top secret research team for the government.”<br/>“What?”<br/>She waved him off. “I turned it down. I’ve never enjoyed secrets and now I have a few that, if spoken aloud to a stranger, would likely see me carted out of town in a straitjacket.” Evelyn had signed all the NDAs while Hopper had been unconscious, but she didn’t think she’d be able to slip back to normality as seamlessly as Owens seemed to suggest she might. It just didn’t seem all that possible to forget what had happened, or what she had seen.</p><p>Hopper was greedily relieved. He didn’t want Evie to go anywhere, but he knew that what Owens had offered was likely a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something that had been her dream five years ago. He might have asked her to stay if she hadn’t already told him she’d rejected the offer. But then, if Hawkins High didn’t take her back…if Owens somehow failed to fix her normal life…then she might change her mind and follow him to a place Hopper would likely never be able to visit. He didn’t even know where Owens had been since leaving Hawkins. He just had that one phone number and a passcode to get through to him. </p><p> </p><p>“They, uh, they pulled bodies from the building after the fire went out.” Evelyn fingered the soft edge of the bandage wrapped around her hand. “None of them have been identified yet, and Owens had his team clear out the ones that weren’t, y’know, human.” She kept her voice low, her words barely above a whisper.<br/>“Brenner’s men?” <br/>She nodded, chewing on her lip. “I haven’t had time to think on it – not sure that I want to.”<br/>Hopper had been through this before, but he recognised the fear behind her slightly teary gaze. The nightmares would linger for a while, probably longer than some of her scars did. The kids, they had each other and their families, but who did Evie have?<br/>“How’s your dad?”<br/>She nodded, sniffing before she spoke. “He’s okay. A mild concussion and a dozen stiches, but he’ll be home once they’ve monitored him for another day.” She let out a small laugh, pushing her hand further into Hopper’s. “He, uh, claims not to remember what happened, but I think he’s convinced if he says something he’ll get me into trouble.” <br/>“Well you’re his daughter. Probably wants to keep you safe.”<br/>“Yeah. It’s just that I was expecting demands for explanations and a lot more shouting. Instead he told me to go and get some rest because I looked like shit. I think Phil wanted to say the same but I sent him home before he could.” She laughed again, shaking her head.<br/>“Well, that’s an exaggeration; you don’t look like shit.” Hopper told her, resting his head back against the pillows as tiredness washed over him again. “You do look exhausted though. Have you slept any since we got out of there?”<br/>Evie shrugged, smoothing down the blankets at the edge of the bed. “I passed out when we got outside. Woke up about two hours later with a doctor checking my vitals. Been awake since then.” She paused, trying to find the words that wouldn’t bring tears to her eyes. “I…I don’t know how to just rest. I close my eyes and see everything all over again. It’s like a VHS stuck on replay.” <br/>Hopper understood immediately. Sleeping meant dreams and dreams meant nightmares. <br/>“You wanna try to sleep here? With me?”<br/>She hesitated, and then nodded once. “But I’ll just rest my head on the bed. I don’t want to jostle you and hurt you.”<br/>“I probably wouldn’t feel a thing.” Hopper gestured to the drip. “I think this makes every inch of me numb. Even my beard feels fuzzy.” He chuckled softly before closing his eyes as she laid her head beside their intwined hands.</p><p> </p><p>When Hopper woke again, Evie was still asleep at his side – although the way she was slumped over in the chair did not look particularly comfortable.<br/>“I said she could have the cot.” El’s voice came from the other side of him. “I don’t think she wanted to leave you.” A small smile tugged at her lips and that in turn made Hopper smile.<br/>“Well, she’s like that. She cares a lot.” It was why she made a good teacher in his opinion. She wasn’t one to give up on a problematic kid or tell one who was struggling with the material to study harder. She actually gave a damn.<br/>Of course, that wasn’t quite what El had implied when she spoke to Hop, but he wasn’t ready to have that conversation with El, especially not when Evie was so close and liable to wake up at any moment.  However, he realised that there was a conversation that they did need to have.<br/>“Hey, kid, so you know how when I get out of here I’m going to need some help?” El nodded her head, leaning forward slightly in her seat. “Well, Evie is going to need some help, too. I think, it may be good for all of us, if she stayed with you and me for a while. What do you think?”<br/>El looked puzzled for a moment, her brows furrowed as she studied the man who had adopted her. Slowly, she realised what they were talking about. She remembered the bad dreams, too. The loneliness she felt when Mike was only a street away and yet untouchable. She nodded softly.<br/>“We’ll take care of her and, if she agrees, she’ll take care of us.” As independent as El was, Hopper knew that if he left her in charge of most things they’d end up eating Eggo’s for every damn meal.</p><p> </p><p>He ran the idea by Evie later, once she woke up, and after Joyce had whisked El away to get some food.<br/>“I shouldn’t. I’d be intruding.”<br/>“I’m inviting you.” He saw the shimmer of reluctance in her eyes and then it dawned on him. “Unless you want to stay with your dad?”<br/>“No. It’s not that. He’d be chasing me out of the house with a stick, for one.” She laughed lightly and then looked back at Hop. “I’m scared of leaving this place. Nowhere feels safe anymore.”<br/>“Which is why I want you to come stay with me and EL. We need someone and you’ll feel better with others around.”<br/>“Is there space at your cabin?” She asked, always thinking that it had been as small as her own.<br/>“We’ll make it work.” He hadn’t given it much thought, but he knew he didn’t want Evie to be alone just yet – especially not when she had been attacked in her own home; homes were supposed to be the one place everyone felt safe.<br/>Evelyn thought about it for a long moment and then, with a second of pause to convince herself, she nodded.<br/>“I’ll need to get some things from my place.”<br/>“I’ll come with you.”<br/>“You don’t have to. You need to rest, anyway.”<br/>“I promise to keep my feet up…once you have what you need and we’re all back in my cabin.”<br/>She rolled her eyes, biting back a smile. <br/>“You’re impossible, Hop.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>&lt;3 I'm looking forward to these next few chapters so I expect to get them out pretty quickly.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0042"><h2>42. The Way Dust Settles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a few days more than Hop would have liked before the doctors were willing to let him go home. He was rarely alone in that time though. Joyce visited almost every day and made sure El was taken care of whilst he was laid up. Callahan and Powell popped by with Flo – the three of them filled with questions he managed to deflect with his own false concerns about what they had been up to without him watching over them. Evie seemed to live at the hospital, flitting between her father and Hop, only going home to change and shower, or to bring them what they wanted. She was smuggling in doughnuts and coffee for Hop every time he complained about the slop the hospital served him.<br/>Her dad was discharged three days earlier than the chief, and she spent most of that day helping Reg settle back in at home, fussing as much as he would let her before he chased her out of the house she had grown up in. He hadn’t asked about the night that landed him in hospital, but he had said enough to suggest he remembered the men who had put him there and what they had been after. She was sure there would be a conversation at some point about what she had been up to, but he seemed to be granting her a reprieve for the time being, ushering her out of the door and suggesting she return to the hospital to keep an eye on the Chief they were all so dreadfully concerned about. Evelyn had chosen to ignore the dripping sarcasm at that moment, deciding Hop was more important than another tedious fight with her stubborn father.</p><p> </p><p>She didn’t tell her dad she was staying with Hopper to help him with his recovery. Evelyn hadn’t wanted the lecture. Reg Carter wasn’t exactly his biggest fan and the last few weeks still rested heavy on her shoulders. She had only been back to her cabin to shower and change, emptying out her refrigerator of rotten food and shoving clothes into a duffel bag. It was too quiet, too still. She slept – or rather napped – in the hospital, finding excuses when the nurses tried to explain visiting hours to her. Most of the time it was El who wanted to stay with Hopper, and no one could say no to a daughter wishing to stay with her injured father. They had worked to paint Hop as a heroic cop who had taken a bullet in some brave moment. Evelyn didn’t know the exact story Owens had been feeding whenever they weren’t around. He had littered breadcrumbs in all the right places, leaving out bits here and there so people were forced to fill in the blanks. It was as though he wanted there to be room for interpretation. She had asked him why, but he had just said it was better to be vague, and tell people they were wrong than to expect all of them to remember a complex lie that had them all in so many different places at different times. Evelyn thought she could understand that, but honestly, she had no clue what he had been wittering on about. The exhaustion at that point had made it difficult to remember her own name.</p><p> </p><p>Hopper left the hospital on crutches, with much persuasion from Evie and Joyce. He was grumbling the whole way to the exit but sighed with contentment the second the crisp spring air hit him. Evelyn smiled, watching as his eyes closed and his head tipped back. He stopped, weight resting on the cursed crutches. <br/>“That’s nice.” He conceded, breathing in deeply.<br/>“You can sit on your porch and enjoy it until your heart’s content.” Joyce said with a wide smile, nudging him along towards her parked car. As happy as she was for him to be out of the hospital, she didn’t have all day.</p><p>Evelyn helped him into the back seat, ignoring his stubborn protests that he could do it himself. Once he was settled, she handed him a pack of Camels, smirking when his eyes lit up and he swore in delight. Joyce had slipped him a few during his brief incarceration in the hospital, but they had been frowned upon, and Hopper had been reluctant to use the wheelchair the nurses had insisted upon if he wanted to go outside of the ward. He was more content to get grouchier and snap at everyone than show that weakness to anyone – even his oldest friends.</p><p> </p><p>He smoked three cigarettes on the drive home, treating each one like it was the best lover he had ever had. His moans of pleasure had the women in the front rolling their eyes and laughing with each other. Both were just glad that the grumpy police chief was alive and that he was going to be okay. It wasn’t easy pretending that everything was normal, that the monsters hadn’t been invading their town a week before, but Hopper coming home was one step closer to things feeling like they used to again.</p><p>Joyce left the engine idling when she pulled up outside Hopper’s cabin. She had been talking to Evie about her shift at Melvald’s for the last quarter of the ride, bemoaning the fact that she had to cover another afternoon for a co-worker who was perpetually sick with a cold. She barely had the time to wave them goodbye once Evie had helped Hopper from the car and grabbed the two duffel bags from the trunk. One was hers and the other had been Hopper’s and was filled with the clothes and various bits people had brought him to try and keep him on his best behaviour for the poor nurses who had to see to him. Evelyn had spent a good portion of his time in hospital trying to coax him into giving Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut a chance. She had been going to recommend her favourite Stephen King, but after all they had been through, she didn’t even want to look at some of his work. The supernatural and the surreal had become a little too real. <br/>In the end, crossword puzzles and shared doughnuts had kept him quiet best. </p><p>El opened the door as Joyce drove away, but she was dressed to go out, not to greet the man who had become her father. Hopper just sighed, taking in the light denim jacket over the bright t-shirt and leggings and the sneakers – new, but scuffed already.<br/>“Arcade?” He asked, wobbling slightly as he found his balance on the slightly uneven porch planks.<br/>El nodded, smiling warmly as her gaze travelled to Evelyn.<br/>“Be back by eight.”<br/>“We’re ordering pizza.” Evelyn added as an extra incentive for the somewhat early curfew. <br/>“With extra cheese?”<br/>“With all the cheese you want.” She promised, chucking as El practically skipped down the creaky porch steps.</p><p> </p><p>When Hop had been hospitalised, the two had spent more time in each other’s company. Evelyn had gotten to know El a little better. She still didn’t talk too much, but she’d given away enough that the science teacher now knew what flavour soda she preferred most, and that she didn’t particularly enjoy oatmeal, but could happily live off Eggo’s if Hop let her. She’d made El laugh with stories of Hopper being young – mostly ones he had shared with her in the short months before Hawkins had been invaded – and she had taught her how to make some simple origami animals out of the newspaper once Hopper was done grumbling at it every morning. They’d gone from being total strangers to familiar acquaintances, and from what Evelyn could understand, that was a pretty impressive leap to make in such a short time.</p><p> </p><p>“Take it easy!” Evelyn scolded, dropping the duffel bags to dash across the space before Hopper could drop himself into the recliner in the same way he would after a long day.<br/>He was mid fall when she wrapped her arms around him, slowing his descent into the seat. She winced, her still tender arm taking the brunt of his weight as he sunk back into the cushions. She wriggled it free, trying to be discreet as she rubbed her hand over the aching wrist. Thankfully, Hopper’s eyes had shut the second he was in the chair, the leg rest already popped.<br/>“Ah, I’ve missed this.” He sighed in contentment with his head tilted back. “Where are my smokes?”<br/>He missed the smirk and the eye roll from Evelyn as she handed him the pack of Camels and his coveted lighter. While he lit up, she set about making them both a cup of coffee, cleaning the forgotten dishes while she waited for the water to heat up.<br/>“I’m sure the magic of that chair will wear off before you’re allowed back to work.” She teased, scrubbing some dried on egg from a scratched plate.<br/>“When was that again?”<br/>“Four week minimum – and that’s just desk work. It’s at least six weeks before you can go and make sure no unruly teenagers are cow tipping at Merrill’s again.”<br/>The groan brought a smile to her lips. For all the griping and complaining that Hopper did, she knew he wasn’t made to sit around and do nothing. He liked to earn his rest, his weekends in front of the TV with chips and beer. It didn’t help that in one more week she’d be up every morning to return to Hawkins High and the science classes she thought she’d never see again.<br/>“And when are you back at the school?” Hopper asked, almost as though he could read her mind.<br/>“After spring break - so next Monday.” She dried her hands on the dish towel, doctoring one of the mugs the way Hop liked it.<br/>“Did you find out what Owens did to get you back in?”<br/>She shook her head as she handed him the mug, smiling when he thanked her. “No clue.” She sat on the couch, tucking her feet up beside her. “I know the Principle was pretty nervous when she called me in and when she had triple checked that Hawkins was where I wanted to be – that I wasn’t <i>needed</i> anywhere else – she said I could start back after the break. And then she thanked me for on behalf of the school and the community for my service to our country.” Hopper barked out a laugh and Evelyn joined him, chuckling against the rim of her mug.<br/>“He’s gone and painted you as some patriotic hero!” He shook his head, grin splitting his face in two. “Not that he’s wrong. Must be that Carter blood.”<br/>“We’re either brave or foolish.” Evelyn conceded, though like every family the Carter’s had their black sheep, too. “Apart from Frank. He’s just too dull to be either.” It was harsh, but the truth. Her remaining brother had never done anything brave or stupid. He had always just been boringly sensible and for a long time Evelyn had thought herself to be the same. Now she realised – with the help of Hopper – that she had never been. <br/>“Have you spoken to him?” Hopper asked, recalling the few times in the hospital Evie had brought him up, stating that she should tell him their father had been admitted – albeit briefly.<br/>“He plans to visit in the summer when the schools are out.” She rolled her eyes, sipping at her coffee. “He wanted me to move in with dad, too. Everyone but Frank can see how badly that would go.” Her father was okay. He had recovered already and refused to let Evelyn stay for dinner, let alone a night. <br/>“The police would be called.” Hopper stated matter-of-factly. “And I’m not able to respond for at least a month and I’m not sure Callahan or Powell could handle the Carters.” He teased, a smirk tugging at his lips.<br/>“Oh, but you could?” She fired back with a flirtatious twinkle in her eye.</p><p>The air crackled with tension. They had avoided mentioning their feelings while Hopper had been in the hospital. They had held hands, and Evelyn had helped him get around a little, but they hadn’t flirted, or danced around what they wanted from the other. They had needed the space to process what had happened, to digest the news coming out of Hawkins. The fire had burnt for two days, and in the end the lab had been demolished, the land bulldozed and flattened almost immediately afterwards. Hopper suspected Owens had a hand in how quickly that had all happened. A total of eight bodies had been pulled from the building before that, but only they knew of them. Owens had his own teams respond to the fire so as not to raise too many suspicions in a town where people already thought the government had tried to poison them with a chemical leak.</p><p>So instead, Hawkins had awoken to air filled with smoke, sirens in the distance, and fast spreading rumours of an arson attack at the old, abandoned labs. Hopper had been injured – not shot – by some of the unstable structure when he responded to the fire, and it looked like it had been started by out-of-towners; probably the same ones who had caused trouble last summer burning out cars in the Junkyard. A few more days and the news of Brenda Hartman’s newborn twins had swept the news away and Hawkins was back to being the same sleepy town Evelyn had always thought it to be.</p><p>And with that, they could go back to what they were supposed to do in sleepy old towns. Things like grab coffee, flirt, eat dinners promised during moments when they didn’t know if they’d survive the night. His gaze felt heavy on her, and she sank back into the couch, hiding slightly behind the hot mug of coffee resting against her lips. <br/>“Do you think I could?” He asked, his voice thick with emotion.<br/>“Could what?” She asked, momentarily distracted by the change in the atmosphere.<br/>“Handle the Carters.”<br/>“You’ve done a pretty good job of it so far.” She said innocently enough, ignoring the butterflies trying to escape her stomach. </p><p>He was hurt, she was hurt. This was not the time to be taking a step in that particular direction even if she wanted to. The dust might have settled on the ruins of Hawkins Lab and for the rest of the town, but it hadn’t settled for them. She was still trying to understand all that had happened. She was still tensing up before she walked around corners, still riddled with anxiety when standing by an open window. She wasn’t ready to take those steps forward when she was being held back. </p><p> </p><p>The air right before a thunderstorm was filled with less electricity than his cabin in that moment.</p><p>And she had a month to get through.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>After all the dragged out drama I feel like y'all deserve a few slower, sleepy chapters with dashings of fluff and cuteness.</p><p>Also - I'm probably going to end this story sometime soon because of how long it's gone on for, but that doesn't mean this is the end. If you guys are interested, I'm happy to carry on telling Evie and Hopper's tale in a sequel. <br/>Don't worry though - still lots of excitement before I wrap this up. Just wanted to get a sense of interest for something that is less dramatic.<br/>&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0043"><h2>43. Between Tomorrow And Yesterday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sleeping arrangement had been a five-minute-long argument before El arrived home from the arcade. Evelyn had been concerned about jostling Hopper’s leg if they shared his bed, but Hop was worried about Evie not getting the rest her body needed after a week of sleeping hunched over in a hospital chair. Very quickly they both realised they were being ridiculous and that they both needed to sleep as well as could possibly be – besides, they were both adults and it wasn’t like they hadn’t shared a bed before. For Evelyn, that was easier said than done. The nightmares came easier now that she was back in the woods around Hawkins. Some nights she didn’t wake Hopper up with them, but she suspected that small victory was more thanks to the strong painkillers the hospital doctors had sent him home with; the ones she encouraged him to take after dinner most nights when she saw the pain etched in his face when he moved from the chair to the table. Other nights it was him who woke her up, pulling her to his chest and whispering that she was safe, that he wasn’t going to let anything hurt her.</p><p> </p><p>This night was one of the latter, with Hopper shaking her from a nightmare of blood and Demogorgons, gunshots and endless cries. Evelyn never remembered them after her eyes opened – not in detail anyway. The screams echoed in her ears a while longer, and she could swear the taste of blood lingered on her tongue as though it was really there, but the faces and the stories all just blurred into the darkness from whence they came. <br/>“I need some air.” She murmured, dismissing him when he asked if she wanted to talk about it, pushing her pillow matted curls back from her face and tossing the covers back.<br/>The cool air hit her bare legs as she shoved her feet into well-worn slippers and exited Hopper’s messy bedroom. He heard the click of the front door, the locks slowly unbolting one at a time as he tried to follow her. It took him a little longer, his healing leg stiff and protesting with sharp aches when he swung it over the edge of the bed. Loathing the crutches, he only grabbed one, tossing an unbuttoned flannel shirt over the off-white henley. </p><p>Evie was sitting on the porch steps when he reached her, handing her a beer.<br/>“It helps.” He said before she could reject it. “You need something to take the edge off.”<br/>She had distracted herself by looking after him, but Hopper knew she needed to dedicate some time to her own recovery – and not just the physical healing of cuts and bruises. She hadn’t spoken once about what they had gone through – not beyond asking the odd question about the stories Owens had scattered through town to cover for them. It was only easier for him because he had been here twice before. He knew that things did return to normal, that life continued on as though the monsters in the lab were just a bad dream. Evie wasn’t there yet. <br/>“Hop, don’t-“ She cut off her protest as he landed beside her with a grunt and a wince, the crutch clattering down the wooden steps to the dirt.<br/>“That was a little rougher than I expected.” He admitted, massaging the ache down his thigh. Hop wasn’t used to being so restricted.<br/>“You’re supposed to be taking it easy.” Evelyn didn’t know why she wasted her time reprimanding him when he only ever shrugged it off.<br/>“I’m sitting down, aren’t I?” He lit up a cigarette, the packet plucked from the pocket of the flannel shirt. “Besides, I can’t relax when you’re not okay.” <br/>“I’ll be fine.” She insisted, thumb brushing over the rim of the beer can.<br/>“And so will I.” He smirked when she glared at him, exhaling a thin vapour into the night air. “Doc said I was healing nicely.” </p><p>They sat in silence for a few minutes, the night still and peaceful around them. Evelyn plucked the cigarette from his fingers and took a long drag from it, closing her eyes and choking back the cough that always followed when someone hadn’t smoked for a very long time.<br/>Hop examined her with raised brows and a slack jaw.<br/>“Little Evie Hopper. Whatever would your father say?” He teased, trying to help her banish the nightmare still sitting heavy in the bags around her tired green eyes.<br/>“Nothing, because you’re not a snitch.” She replied, passing the cigarette back. “Anyway, it’s not like I’ve ever finished one. A handful of stolen drags across thirty years is far from the worst thing I’ve done.”<br/>If this had been any other time, he might have asked what had successfully made it onto that list, but Hopper remembered holding her as she shook three nights prior, waking her from cries of guns and blood. To pry into Evelyn Carter’s darkest moments now would be of use to neither of them.<br/>“It’s hard to look at Hawkins how it once was. I can’t see the sleepy, American Dream town we grew up hearing about.” She admitted as she cracked open the can, the sound unusually loud in the still of the night. <br/>Hopper turned to see her gulping down the cold beer, wincing at the bitter, cheap taste of it. <br/>“Would you rather not know the truth about what lurks under Hawkins?” Hopper asked even though he was afraid of what her answer might be.<br/>Evelyn thought in silence for a moment, her mind unboxing all the times she had been the last to know about things everyone else considered common knowledge. She thought about Mickey cheating, about Joey dying, about her stolen research paving the way for a career alongside a monster of a man. She thought about idle high school gossip from when she had been sixteen, of broken crushes and lost dreams, and of the night Hopper had left her in Enzo’s thinking she meant nothing to him but another possible notch in his bedpost. If she had never discovered the deep dark secret of Hawkins she might still be mad at Hopper for that night. They probably wouldn’t be sharing a beer and a smoke on his porch steps, or even having a conversation. Then again, Evelyn probably wouldn’t be having nightmares, either. <br/>“I’ll get back to you on that.” She said, offering a small smile and the can of beer before tucking herself against his chest. <br/>His arm instinctively wrapped around her and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn didn’t know how much time passed. It was still dark, the air was still cool and Hop was still warm. A groan slipped out from the back of his throat and she straightened up to check on him, tired lidded eyes immediately moving to his leg.<br/>“You okay?” She asked, cautiously placing her hand on the solid muscle of his thigh.<br/>He nodded, stretching as best he could from the sitting position he was in. She winced as his spine cracked, but Hopper sighed in brief relief.<br/>“I’m too old to be camping out on the porch steps.” He admitted, though he hated the thought of moving. He’d enjoyed however long they had been out there for. </p><p>He didn’t always need words with Evie – that was something he’d come to realise when he’d been in the hospital. The first time their conversation had dried up he had panicked, brain scrambling through a medicated haze for something else to say, eventually asking some weird question about if she paired her socks up when she did the laundry. Quickly enough he came to realise that they could sit quietly with each other and it wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable. He would do the crossword in silence, asking her whenever he got stuck on a clue, and she would be reading in the chair next to him, or helping El with those paper animals that now littered the desk in her small bedroom. It was nice to share the quiet with someone else, and it had been too long since Hopper remembered doing that.</p><p>“We should head back inside.”<br/>He wanted to protest, to say no, but his body sagged with relief at the notion. It was easy to forget that he was still recovering. Sometimes, when the medication was working at its best, he forgot parts of him were stitched back together, that he was supposed to be taking it easy. Evie had to step in and help him, often joking with him to save his bruised pride from taking another blow. Hopper hated asking for help and she knew it – and he knew that she knew it. </p><p>It had only been five days, but they had slipped into an easy routine of her helping him without making it out to be a big deal. She was always about to do something anyway, or thinking that what he wanted sounded like a good idea herself. Once or twice she had jokingly suggested she’d race him to the kitchen. He saw the bags under her eyes, too. It was a way for her to try and act like everything was normal. She was helping him, but by not doing a song and dance over how and why he had been shot it helped her to start to put the past behind her. </p><p>“Do they ever go away?” She asked, helping Hopper to his feet, encouraging him to rest his weight on the porch fence while she collected the fallen crutch from the ground. “The nightmares, I mean.”<br/>“Eventually. Mostly.” He comforted, slipping him arm back over the blasted walking aid when it was offered back to him. “I can’t promise you that they vanish forever because I still have them now and then, but they lose their power over you. I wake up from one now and it’s a glass of water and back to bed. In the beginning I would take my gun and walk the perimeter until the sun came up.” He wished he could tell her it would be okay and that the monsters would fade back into the books and the movies where they ought to have been all along. “It will get easier, and you can always come to me to talk them out. You’re not alone in this, Evie; You’re just…new to it.” He imagined the nightmares were back for Joyce, too, and probably the kids, but they confided in each other that group. Joyce would hug her boys a little tighter, and the teenagers would turn their nightmares into creatures they could destroy in Dungeons and Dragons. Evie just needed to find what she would do to ground herself again. Right now, it was hold onto Hop and pretend she was just helping him get back inside.</p><p> </p><p>Back in Hopper’s bedroom, he pulled Evie closer to him in the now cold bed. They still hadn’t spoken about their feelings, or talked about that rescheduled dinner date, but tonight Hopper wanted her close to him, and he sensed she felt the same. Her body relaxed against his, her chest tucked against his side. She readjusted the pillow, bundling it up so she could still see him over his broad chest when she lay her head down. She thought about curling up, head on his shoulder, but it seemed too intimate, and she was still afraid of hurting him. He may have only needed medical treatment for his thigh, but he was still bruised and aching in other places. <br/>“You should get some more rest.” She insisted softly, pulling the sheets up to her chin.<br/>“I’ll wait for you to go to sleep first.” Just in case you need me – he didn’t add, but he didn’t need to. They were getting good at reading between the lines with each other.<br/>“Could be morning before that happens.” <br/>“It’s not like I have to go into work.”<br/>She was tired, her body felt heavy in the bed, but fear kept her awake. Evelyn didn’t want to slip back into that darkness where the monsters were waiting for her. She didn’t want to see the people she cared about get ripped apart before her eyes or see them shot and bleeding before her. She didn’t want to have to curl against Hopper just to hear his heartbeat to calm hers.</p><p> </p><p>That comfortable silence engulfed them again until Hopper spoke, his voice soft and Evelyn could just about make out the tug of his smirk in the dim light.<br/>“When El first came here she could never get to sleep. I used to read to her.”<br/>“What did you read her?”<br/>“Anne of Green Gables.” A soft laugh came with the words, his hand coming to rest on Evelyn’s arm. “It used to be Sara’s favourite.”<br/>It was easy to forget that Hopper had been a father before. She was used to his gruffness, his grumpy morning tones. He wore it like armour, and it was only in moments like this one, or when he had been taking care of her injuries in hotel rooms that she saw behind that hard cuirass. <br/>“I was an Oz girl myself.”<br/>“As in Wizard of?”<br/>“Mmhm.” She breathed in the smoky scent of him on the flannel.<br/>“Sara used to find the Wicked Witch too scary.” Evelyn noted the way his voice softened with nostalgia and heartache. Hers did the same when she spoke of her brothers or mother. “But she loved the big pink dress that the good witch wore. What was her name again?”<br/>“Mm, it was Glinda.” <br/>Although Evelyn could have easily began talking about the difference of the famous MGM movie and L. Frank Baum’s novels, she was too weary and thought Hopper too disinterested in the minute details. Midnight talks were not for critique and comparisons, but rather for the magic of memories. In the still of those slow, sleepy hours, things had a way of appearing more idyllic. In the veil between yesterday and tomorrow, evocations of what had been held the hours for their own, undisturbed by what was to come or how the world may be. Forgotten smells and long lost touches revisited a person like ghosts turning to Scrooge on Christmas Eve; they were equal parts amazing and inexplicable. </p><p>So, Evelyn let Hopper have his memories and she listened, recalling her own pink bedroom and nights listening to Joey read her to sleep with tales of the Emerald City and Winged Monkeys. <br/>“Sara’d have been the same age as El now.”<br/>“She’d have made you grey…or bald.” Evelyn teased, trying to keep him away from the edge of that bottomless pit. He’d wandered towards it once or twice already now that he had time on his hands and little energy to do anything with it.<br/>“That’s for sure.” He agreed, his fingers moving in small circles across her bare arm. “I wonder if that’s why I took El in, y’know? Because of the age thing.”<br/>“I think you did it because you’re a good man, even if you do challenge my dad for the title of grumpiest man in Hawkins.”<br/>“Not many people would agree with you.”<br/>“That you’re grumpy? Oh, please.”<br/>Hop let out a belly laugh, bringing a grin to Evelyn’s face, too - after almost scaring the life out of her. She hadn’t expected such a response, but with Hop it was easy to laugh.<br/>“I wasn’t always a good man.”<br/>“I know.” Evelyn acknowledged, resting back against him. “Hawkins is a small town and people talk about other people’s lives like it’s the latest hit at the movies.” It hadn’t deterred her though. People were capable of change just as easily as they were capable of making mistakes. “But – and I’m not saying what you went through excuses you for being – what I think someone described as ‘a colossal shit’-“ Hopper laughed again at that. “<i>But</i> no one decent can stay mad at you for it either. Grief fucks us all up in different ways. Some of us take comfort in bringing the closest attractive thing to bed and others become blind to the world around them, stumbling aimlessly in whatever direction someone points them.” She brought her hand up to Hop’s cheek, turning him gently to look at her. “But you’re not that same man anymore, Jim.”<br/>“I know.” He whispered, brushing the curls from her face. </p><p>It would have been so easy for one of them to lean in. They were both already so close. Their gazes locked onto each other’s, soft and dreamy, eyes half lidded. It would only take the briefest of movements – barely even a slip across the sheets – and their lips could touch. But neither moved. Because this was enough for tonight. After nightmares and vulnerable whispers <i>this</i> was all they needed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I actually love this hazy chapter more than I can say. Something about sleepy characters brings me joy!<br/>Anyway, thanks for reading, and another part will be up soon &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0044"><h2>44. Normal Creeps Easy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Evelyn returned to Hawkins High she spent most of that first day convincing herself it was real. Time passed in a weird haze, like the way time passes in a dream; slowly, and then all at once. She jumped at unexpected questions, having to hammer down her anxiety and laugh it off as being lost in a daydream, or distracted by thoughts of her next lesson plan. She kept tugging at her already long sleeves to ensure the edge of the thin bandage was always hidden. Evelyn could take it off any day now, but the scarring underneath was still angry and jagged. Her skin would never be as it once was, and if she hadn’t come to terms with it just yet she didn’t want other people asking questions about it. Evelyn didn’t even know how to answer those questions. Very few things could mark her arm the way the Demogorgon had, and none of them were found in Hawkins, Indiana. <br/>The doctors in the hospital had been aghast at the mutilation of her arm, but asked few questions since Owens must have spoken to them prior to them assessing her injuries. One had told her she ought to have sought medical attention sooner, that stitches could have lessened the eventual scarring, but Evelyn already knew that. She just wanted to be told that there was no infection in any of the healing wounds – which there wasn’t.</p><p>It was the class before lunch, and Evelyn was going through the motions of teaching. She had hoped the morning might have warmed her up a little, allowed her to settle back into what was supposed to be her brand of normal. Instead she lingered in that fog, her thoughts clouded with nervousness and the fear that something was going to come crashing through the window or break through her door. The bell rang and her words about an upcoming test were drowned out by the shuffling of chairs and packing of bags. <br/>“Um, Miss Carter?” Evelyn startled from where she was wiping the board clean, but this time it was only a small reaction compared to the shriek she had let out when a freshman had called out for her in first period to ask if she might use the bathroom.<br/>When she glanced around she saw the worried faces of Nancy, Jonathan and Steve staring back at her.<br/>“What’s up?” She asked, forcing a smile as she tugged again at the maroon sweater that it was slightly too warm for.<br/>“We just wanted to make sure you were doing okay.” Jonathan said, his voice soft like usual.<br/>“And the Chief.” Nancy added, hugging her textbooks to her chest. <br/>“Yeah, mom said you were staying with him. Helping him out, that sort of thing.” Jonathan jumped in before Evelyn even had a chance to gather her thoughts.</p><p>Evelyn had never shared such a connection with her students before. The line between student and teacher were considerably blurred when both sides were harbouring secrets that could destroy a nation. Together, they had also broken enough laws to ruin their lives; there wasn’t any teaching guidance on how to handle something like that. She had considered that coming home to Hawkins would mean she was more likely to bump into her students, or befriend their parents, but never in her wildest dreams did she suspect anything of this calibre. These three teenagers knew the truth of where she had been, knew what was hidden beneath the woollen sleeves, and they probably knew the nightmares that kept her awake at night. The concealer did a good job at covering the shadows under her eyes, but she felt as though the trio could see through it.</p><p>“Hopper’s fine. I’m adapting.” Evelyn answered with a sigh, relief sweeping through the room as she realised none of the three needed her to act like everything was normal.<br/>“It’s a bitch.” Steve mumbled, glancing around to make sure they were alone. “Not that anyone would believe us if we could tell them the truth.”<br/>“Would you really want to scare everyone with the truth?” It had been one of the thoughts Evelyn had considered when she was awake late at night, heart rate coming down from a nightmare.<br/>“No.” Steve sighed, scraping the toe of his sneaker across the floor. “Nothing good could come from that.”</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn had weighed up the pros and cons of the truth. Before all this happened, she hadn’t approved of lying. She always tried to be as honest as possible. Now her life was shrouded in lies built to protect the people of Hawkins from the horrors that now haunted Evelyn whenever she was in a kitchen or when she was curled up in bed hoping for a dreamless sleep.<br/>The truth would create fear and panic in a place where most people were happy, living contented lives with their families. They already felt outraged by the story fed to them the year before that had seen the lab shut down – the lie that had brought closure to Barbara Holland’s family. <br/>People had been hurt though – children had been hurt – and a part of Evelyn felt like people had the right to know the truth for that reason. That would just bring more angry people to Hopper’s door and he had done the best he could to keep everyone in Hawkins safe from harm. He didn’t deserve their wrath. <br/>It had been 4:30am, dawn slipping through the thin curtains, when she managed to fall asleep, resigning herself to the fact that she would have to get used to lying.</p><p> </p><p>“People help.” Nancy’s voice broke through the thoughts, bringing Evelyn back to the classroom. “Being around people, I mean.”<br/>“Yeah.” Steve agreed, rubbing the back of his neck. “You can’t focus on the...<i>that</i> when they’re talking about everything else.”<br/>It made sense. Evelyn was the most comfortable when she was with Hopper and El, watching Miami Vice or some old movie that she might not care for, but it offered popcorn and idle chatter about the plot and characters. It was when she stepped away from them, when she was the last one awake, or the only one in a room that the claws of those bad memories sunk in again, re-opening the healing wounds and dragging her back to a place where her heart raced, where her anxiety and fear triggered that rush of adrenaline.<br/>“I just need a routine back. Being here will help.” Evelyn said confidently, almost convincing herself that things would return to normal soon.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn was exhausted when she had finished teaching for the day. In the past she would thoroughly clean her classroom, set everything up for the next morning so she had more time to enjoy the poorly brewed coffee from the teacher’s lounge. This time she left without so much as tucking a chair in. Her head hurt, a pounding in her temples reminding her that she needed to take better care of herself. She wanted nothing more than to kick her shoes off, to change into an old, worn-in sweater and leggings and crawl into bed.<br/>She couldn’t do that though.<br/>Evelyn had promised her father that she’d call by when she was finished for the day. She had visited him before the weekend, but the visit had been brief – squeezed in between a grocery run and burger pick up. Had it been any other time she would have gone home, called him and explained she was exhausted, but she was weighted down still by the guilt that he had been hurt because of her. <br/>No, what was it that Hopper had told her to replace that thought with?<br/>He had been hurt by the people who wanted to hurt her.<br/>Not that is helped to lessen the guilt immensely, but it did help Evelyn remember she wasn’t responsible for her father being hurt, or for anything else that Brenner’s men did or the fate that befell them.</p><p> </p><p>Her dad was in the kitchen, reheating the last of the lasagne Evelyn had dropped off previously.<br/>“You used too much garlic in this.” He said by way of a greeting – not that it surprised Evelyn in the slightest. Pleasantries with her father had finished some time ago when the PVC fashion of the 60s also made its exit.<br/>“There was barely any in it.” She sighed, falling into a chair at the kitchen table she had eaten countless meals around. <br/>“Well I don’t like it.”<br/>“Is there anything you do like?” She closed her eyes, leaning back in the wooden backed chair.<br/>A plate was dropped rather carelessly atop the table and she opened her eyes, peering at the single meal on the placemat across from her. Reg Carter lowered himself into the chair there, eyes fixed on his daughter the whole time.<br/>“There wasn’t enough for two.” He said casually, jamming his fork through the Italian dish.<br/>“I’ll eat at home.” Hopper and El were going to feed themselves tonight, but Evelyn guessed she could put together a sandwich or something just as simple when she got back to his cabin.<br/>“Home, huh? You heading back there from here?” Reg spoke around the food in his mouth. Evelyn had noticed his manners deteriorated once his kids were old enough to not pick up his bad habits.<br/>“Mmhm.”<br/>“Did you go out last night?” Evelyn watched her father bring another forkful to his mouth. She hadn’t been grilled like this since she was a teenager and snuck out to the movies with her friends.<br/>“No.”<br/>“Funny. ‘Cause I tried phoning you.”<br/>“Phone line is a bit...well, I need someone to come and look at it. I don’t always get the calls people tell me they’ve made.”<br/>“And then – I found this interesting – I heard that useless lump of a deputy talking to the one who works in Melvalds; the one whose kid was missing.”<br/>“Joyce Byers, and dad, Phil Callahan isn’t a useless lump. He sat with you in the hospital until I could get there.”<br/>“Reading the comics in the paper.”<br/>“Well I doubt there was a copy of Moby Dick handy for him to enjoy.”<br/>“They said you were taking care of the Chief. Staying with him.”<br/>Evelyn sighed through her nose, lifting her weary head to blink tiredly down the table. “And?”<br/>“Are you?”<br/>“Yes.” Lying required energy that she just didn’t have. If she rested her head on the table Evelyn was certain she’d be asleep in five minutes.<br/>“Then why did you lie about it?”<br/>“Because I’m too tired to argue with you – or to hear some lecture.”<br/>Her dad fell quiet, chewing slowly and reaching for the full glass of water. He kept his gaze on Evelyn and the silence hung in the air as she waited for him to play his next move.<br/>“What you do is your business.”<br/>“What?”<br/>“You’re thirty years of age. You’re too old for lectures from your old man.”<br/>Evelyn blinked. She didn’t recall a time when her father didn’t spout his opinion. Most of the time it was unwanted, unnecessary and changed very little, but Reg Carter would still make sure everyone knew his thoughts.<br/>“What?” She repeated, confusion still barricading any hope of her understanding.<br/>Reg scraped his fork through the remains on his plate, pushing the last meaty crumbs onto the metal with his thumb. He took his time answering Evelyn, savouring the last bite of his warmed-up meal before responding.<br/>“I don’t like the man. He’s been incompetent for years. But there are others in this town who think he’ll die for those he cares about – not that I’ve ever seen him care for anyone but himself.” His features softened, and for the first time Evelyn saw a glimpse of the man she remembered from her early childhood. “But it’s better than you being alone in those woods with...everything that has happened.”<br/>Understanding settled over her and she realised her dad was talking about the men who had come looking for her. Those who had trashed their home and left him laying bloody on the floor. <br/>“Dad, I-”<br/>He held up his hand to cut her off. “I don’t need to know. I don’t want to. But I’ve buried too many of my children already.” Reg stood from the table, picking up his plate and moving swiftly to the sink. With his back to Evelyn, he continued. “Just make sure you’re getting something from this, too. When generosity is a one-way street someone ends up being used as a doormat.”<br/>Evelyn lifted her weary body from the seat, thinking that this conversation might be the nicest one she had shared with her father in a long time. “You raised me better than a doormat, dad.”</p><p>It was the one thing all four Carter children had in common. They were resilient, and rarely gave anyone who broke their trust a second chance. Evelyn knew if she hadn’t discovered the truth about Hawkins that she wouldn’t have forgiven Hopper for leaving her sitting in Enzo’s. She had been the kid in the street shouting at the older boys for getting dirt on her dress when they rode their bikes through a puddle. The Carters were not meek stock. Even her mild-mannered mother had a line she wouldn’t let people cross. Evelyn had been numbed by grief and let people push her around once before; she wouldn’t do so again.</p><p> </p><p>They parted with few words. They didn’t need them. Evelyn didn’t remember the last time her father had shown some real concern for her. He had never visited in Milwaukee, and all brief phone calls had come from Evelyn. Tonight, he had allowed her a small glimpse into where his head was at – where it had been for some time, she reckoned. Reg couldn’t keep his children safe, and that settled on him in frustration. He couldn’t stop his adult children from leading the lives they wanted to, but he lived in fear that they’d be buried before him. Evelyn wasn’t fooled into thinking that their relationship would improve now, but she understood why he kept them all at arm’s length since Joey’s death. It was easier to protect himself that way, and that meant he could keep providing for them all while they had still been so young. Now, he was grumpy and filled with regrets, but he had two successful children who seemed to be doing fine without him. The only bridge he had burnt was the one that included him in their lives, but with Evelyn back home in Hawkins there was a chance that he might be allowed to at least watch one of his children find a happiness two had been denied when their lives were cut short.</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn barely managed the drive back to Hopper’s cabin. Her eyes were closing of their own accord as she turned onto the dirt road. She shouldn’t have been driving at all, let alone driving out where there were no streetlights to guide her. She parked up behind the Blazer, realising halfway up the porch steps that it hadn’t been there when she left that morning.<br/>The door was unlocked, and she swung it open, dropping her bag beside the door almost instantly. Her tired gaze flicked upwards from her shoes, and fell upon El curled on the sofa, Hopper’s usual recliner empty. <br/>“Hey.” His voice came from the right – from the kitchen. His brow creased immediately when he took in her dishevelled, fatigued appearance. “Rough day?”  <br/>“Exhausting day.” She corrected, toeing her shoes off and gently kicking them where no one could trip over them. Usually she was much tidier since she wasn’t in her own home, but all of Evelyn’s strength was directed towards moving her legs closer to the nearest chair.<br/>“Well here.” The steaming hot cup of cocoa that she assumed had been for someone else was placed in front of her. Hopper moved back to the kitchen, aided with a crutch, where he pulled another mug from the cupboard. “And there’s some leftover Mac ‘n’ Cheese if you want that. If not, I’ll reheat it for lunch.”<br/>A sleepy smile pulled at her lips.<br/>“I’m starving.” She admitted, sipping at the cocoa to gauge the heat.<br/>Hopper smiled at her, his eyes soft. He grabbed the Tupperware crammed with leftovers and set about reheating it. While it was cooking, El came and collected the second mug of cocoa, sitting in the chair across from Evelyn.<br/>She had noticed that El didn’t always say what she wanted or how she felt, but she would give away her thoughts in her actions. If she was mad, or upset, she went into her bedroom and closed the door. When she craved company, she would come and join them on the couch, or – like now – simply sit with them and share food or drink. Evelyn had surprisingly come to like the small gestures of trust from the quiet fourteen-year-old. She had been worried that El might think she was taking over their space, invading a home that had never been shared, but it had been quite the opposite and El even seemed to be reaching out for a stronger connection with the science teacher.</p><p>Hopper put the steaming plate heaped with gooey cheese and cooked-just-right pasta in front of Evelyn and handed her a fork.<br/>“We had a feeling you’d enjoy comfort food tonight.” He told her, sitting in the remaining dining chair, leaning his crutch against the table’s edge.<br/>“And Mac ‘n’ Cheese is the ultimate comfort food.” Evelyn agreed, shovelling a forkful into her mouth, and moaning in satisfaction. “I haven’t had this in ages.” <br/>It had been her go-to whenever she’d come home from a stressful day, whenever she was too tired to stand in front of a stove and prepare a meal more “grown up”. It was what she wanted when she was sick with the flu, when she was hugged with nostalgia, and when days had her feeling so far from herself.<br/>“And the cocoa is perfect, too.”<br/>“Well, you can thank El for that. You’re drinking it how she likes it.”<br/>El gave Evelyn one of her rare, warm smiles as she raised her mug to her lips.</p><p> </p><p>The conversation while Evelyn ate was slow and easy, filled with stories of the day, and El asking questions about the classes Evie had taught. Eventually, the plate was empty, and the mugs were left with a chocolate stain, and Evelyn was practically falling asleep in the hard chair. Not that she minded, suddenly; this short interaction with El and Hop had been the highlight of her long, tiring day. It almost felt like what coming home was meant to be.</p>
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<a name="section0045"><h2>45. Cookies - Like Grandma Used to Make Them</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After a few more weeks of going through the motions and playing at normal, Evelyn began to feel like things could actually go back to how they once were. The nightmares had become less frequent, and she had slept soundly for the last three nights. She had stopped jumping at every little noise, and though her anxiety still lingered whenever she was alone in the kitchen of Hopper’s cabin, she felt better about handling it. Her hands shook less, even if her heart still threatened to hammer its way out of her chest. She had found that having the radio on distracted her mind from the fear. If she was singing along to a new pop song, then she couldn’t replay the memory of a monster smashing through her window and almost killing her. Her classes were back to normal, and Steve, Nancy and Jonathan had stopped checking in on her at the end of their class as though they were afraid she might fall apart. </p><p>Evelyn had fallen into a routine, one that kept the fear at bay most of the time. On the days when she was busiest it was almost possible to believe that everything that had happened at Hawkins Lab had been some fever dream. The only thing that reminded her that it had been very, very real, were the scars on her arms. The wounds were no longer open, but pink, healing, and tender to the touch. The hot water in the shower tickled them, made the new skin redder and more noticeable. Only Hopper had seen them like that. Evelyn still took to long sleeves and cardigans when she left the cabin, and sometimes even when El was around. Evelyn knew the girl didn’t mean to stare, but sometimes she caught her gaze fixed on the mauled flesh and Evie didn’t know if she was having her own flashbacks of a life before Hopper’s dusty cabin, before Hawkins was even a place she knew the name of. Either way, she felt the long sleeves protected both of them from unpleasant memories.</p><p>Evelyn had grown closer to El. There were times when she still wanted to be alone, would slam her door like most teenagers if Hop told her she couldn’t go out, or that she had to eat some real food and not just Eggos, but Evelyn knew she had been the same at that age. Instead she tried different approaches to El, hoping to make it easier for Hopper to help her. El was different, and Hopper was short-tempered and grouchy – even more so when he was in pain. That was why, this Saturday morning, El hadn't gone out immediately after breakfast to join Mike, but instead was in the small kitchen of the cabin, mixing cookie dough while Evelyn preheated the oven. <br/>Evelyn had tried one night to engage the annoyed teenager in the kitchen and had found that El didn’t mind Hopper harping on about eating proper food if she had helped make it. Plus, it was likely better than whatever Hop threw together after a long day at the station. Evelyn would bring home fresh food to turn into a meal, and El would now help if she was at home. <br/>It was the weekend though, and on the back of Friday Night Pizza, Evelyn had promised cookies like her grandma used to make. She had slightly exaggerated the part where it was a secret recipe since the only thing grandma did to her chocolate chip cookies was add a dash of nutmeg to the mix. <br/>This was the sort of thing Evelyn used to do with her mom a long time ago, whenever she missed her older brothers or had been told she couldn’t go out with them. As good as Joey had been with her, and how tolerant Charlie was of her chasing him around, they were older, and it wasn’t ‘cool’ to have your kid sister ruining an afternoon with friends. It distracted her from being told ‘no.’</p><p>“Ooh, turn it up.” Evelyn gestured to the radio that sat on the counter beside El. “I love this song.”<br/>“REO Speedwagon, really?” Hopper grimaced as the chorus burst through the speakers. It was loud enough to drown out the old Spaghetti Western he had found on TV for afternoon viewing. He had never watched so much daytime TV in his life and most of it was unbearable. “Jesus, turn that down!”<br/>Evelyn reached around El, handing her the wooden spoon as she turned the volume dial back to where it had been originally. El’s giggles told Hop that the science teacher had whispered something too, but he only heard Evie’s warm chuckle and not her words. He shot them both a glare before slowly turning back to the movie. He’d missed a shootout. Still, it was nice to see El happy at home. There had been too many frowns and angry looks tossed his way lately while he had been recuperating. </p><p> </p><p>Evelyn had explained it best a few nights ago when El was at Mike’s with the rest of the gang. She had been curled up on the couch, grading test papers with a cup of hot cocoa.<br/>“She’s not used to you being around so much. She tries to sneak an Eggo at lunch and you’re here to catch her.” <br/>Hopper was smoking in the recliner, munching on a bag of chips Evie had brought home with her.<br/>“She used to complain I wasn’t home enough.”<br/>“Well, teenage girls change their minds with the wind.” Evie peered at Hop over the rim of her mug. “I don’t think she ever expected you to be around her almost 24/7.”<br/>“It won’t be forever.” He grumbled reaching over to crack open the beer can sitting on the small table.<br/>“Six weeks is forever when you’re fourteen.” She glanced back down at the test paper, scribbling a quick note against a wrong answer. “Or don’t you remember how summer never seemed to end?”<br/>Hopper sighed, remembering those carefree summers that seemed like another lifetime ago. “It was different back then.”<br/>“And I’m sure El will say the same in thirty years when she’s your age.” Evelyn put the bundle of test papers down and stretched out, planting her feet on the floor and resting her elbows atop her knees. “I’m not a parent, but I know teenagers; I’m paid to know them. They’re no different to how we were even though they’ll never believe that.”<br/>“She’s different though.” His eyes met Evie’s knowingly.<br/>“She is. But she wants to be normal. And if anyone deserves that it’s El.” Hopper nodded in agreement, reaching for his beer. “She deserves to be just like we were and to make all our stupid mistakes that we made because we didn’t listen to our parents. And it’ll happen, because as much as you try to help her avoid them she’s going to – at some point – do her best to avoid your advice.” Evelyn chuckled, brushing her end-of-the-day limp curls back from her face. “And then she’ll come back to you for advice to fix her mess, and the cycle will repeat and this imperfect balance will be restored.” <br/>Hopper scoffed and then studied Evie with a gentle gaze. “You say that like you’ve said it before.”<br/>“Oh, I have – at every parent-teacher night I’ve ever been at.” She grinned and then shrugged. “But no one ever listened to it. Parents aren’t too keen on the unmarried, childless, twenty-something teacher giving them advice about their kids.”<br/>“Hey, I’ve seen you talk that Harrington kid into chemistry – I'll take your advice any time.”</p><p> </p><p>Evelyn had cracked out Grandma’s secret recipe because Hopper had been grumbling only the other night about how much time El had been spending out and about. He didn’t like that he wasn’t allowed to patrol the streets and hover in locations while he waited for her pick-up time. Evelyn had discovered that same night, through a midnight conversation, that he often stayed in the Blazer after he “headed home” and drove by the arcade a few times, or swung up towards Mike’s house to make sure nothing troublesome was happening. After everything that had happened over the last three years he still worried that something would happen the second he let his guard down – even more so now he was laid up recovering.<br/>Evelyn had decided to find a compromise. El wouldn’t be happy cooped up in the cabin, but if she offered the teenager experiences she hadn’t had before then El was happy enough to meet up with her friends later or come home an hour earlier. Hopper still grumbled, but he was quieter about it, and seemed a little less tense about the situation.</p><p> </p><p>Hopper was watching Evie and El discreetly from his recliner. He had a fresh mug of coffee resting against his thigh, and the last bit of bacon Evelyn had fried up before it went bad sitting on a plate with some eggs and a poorly formed pancake. He didn’t care though; El had helped make it and then had dived right into baking cookies with Evie as soon as it was in his hands. He hadn’t seen her this excited to be in the kitchen before when Eggos weren’t involved, and he couldn’t keep the smile from his face when he saw how relaxed and happy both of them seemed in this moment.</p><p> </p><p>Evie had him worried up until this last week. She had been jumpy and anxious – awake more of the night than she was asleep. Shadows were monsters and the wind twisted into echoing screams that kept her from rest. He had been awake too – as much as he could be anyway. Some nights the pain medication dragged him off to sleep even when he was fighting to keep his eyes open. He didn’t like that he had slept soundly while Evie was pacing the cabin in socked feet, jumping and startled by the noises of nature around them. Hopper did his best to help her; he kept her talking at night until sleep wrapped its arms around her. He made sure there was always noise in the cabin, just to drown out anything outside. He knew she felt embarrassed when the wind in the trees had her grabbing a kitchen knife. She didn’t say it in so many words, but he saw it in the burning of her face, the way she bit back the tears and then tried to hide the shaking of her hands with books, or the dishes she hadn’t finished washing. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, you done already?” El walked by his chair on her way to the bedroom, glancing back at him when he spoke.<br/>“The cookies are in the oven.” She stated, looking at him as though he ought to know that already. “I’m getting changed to go to the arcade later.”<br/>Evelyn had done a good job at keeping El home a little more, but she was still like every other teenager and hated being cooped up with her old man. Hopper felt his heart dip slightly, but he knew it was only because he couldn’t go and keep an eye on her from across the street from the arcade.<br/>Evie moved into view, wiping her hands on the dishcloth. “Don’t forget you can take some of these with you. Just make sure to bring the Tupperware back. I’m not sure Hop has any more.” She threw the laid-up Chief a quick look and Hopper was instantly reminded of the numerous times she had called him out on his lack of kitchen supplies. <br/>She insisted he needed more than one kitchen knife and one pan. Evie had taken one look at the old chipped dinnerware and had driven straight into town to pick up a simple, plain set from Melvald’s. She hadn’t thrown out the old mismatched pieces, but pushed them to the back of the cupboard. Ever since she had been staying with them, she had added a few things – “For El’s benefit” – but had never actually removed anything. If Hopper wanted to eat off the old plates then he could, if he wanted to use the older towels then that was never questioned. She hadn’t swept in like a whirlwind and changed everything, but she had also brought an air of freshness to the old cabin and Hopper believed El appreciated it. He had seen her using the citrus based soap that had been Evie’s, and even caught her looking at the toiletries and soft sweaters that Evie had left around when she went to work. He had never really thought about El having a female role model before, but it made sense. She wasn’t going to be happy with the plain bar of soap like Hopper was, and no woman he knew splashed their face with water and called it a wash. </p><p> </p><p>The phone rang, and before Hopper could push himself out of the chair to answer it, it was in Evie’s hand and she quickly affixed it between her jaw and shoulder.<br/>“Hello – Chief Hopper’s residence.”  Her expression changed, her features softening as she pressed her teeth into her bottom lip, leaning into the corner as she listened. “Yeah? Okay, that’s…that’s something….no, yeah, I’m fine, I just…I don’t know what I was expecting to be honest. Thanks for the call Doctor…Yeah…Yeah, whenever you need it.” Her gaze moved to Hopper and she smiled softly, wrapping her fingers around the phone call as the conversation continued. “He’s getting there. A few more weeks the doctor said…Oh, I will! Yeah, I’ll let him know you were asking…Bye, Doctor Owens, thanks for calling.” She put the handset back into the cradle and crossed the cabin to check on the cookies. <br/>“I never quite know cooking times in this oven. It has a mind of its own.” She mumbled, looking at the still-pale cookies before sliding them back onto the shelf and closing the door.<br/>“What did Owens want?” Hopper asked. He knew she had been offered a job on his research team and he was still afraid that she would take it just to get away from the monsters haunting her nightmares.<br/>“I asked him to take a look at what was pulled from the rubble.” Evie began, raking her curls back from her face as she moved to the couch, tucking her legs up as she sat down. “I had to know if Mickey made it out.” She admitted softly.<br/>“Did he?”<br/>“Owens said they haven’t found anything to indicate he was still inside the lab when it came down.” She rolled her earlobe between her fingers – a quirk Hopper hadn’t seen Evie do in a while. <br/>“You okay?” He asked cautiously. He couldn’t read anything in her expression. She was staring into space, but there was no smile or no tears, no furrowed brow or bitten lip.<br/>“I don’t know.” She sighed, looking across at him with a sight shrug. “I never thought how I’d feel one way or another. I guess a part of me is glad he made it out, but then he was also going to shoot me. It’s a little hard to feel relieved for him after that.”<br/>“Do you think he’s going to be a problem?” Hopper didn’t want anyone coming back to Hawkins to try and revive what they had buried with Brenner.<br/>She shook her head. “As much as Mickey likes to play at being the leader, I eventually realised that he needs someone to guide his way. He needed my work, needed the ideas of others, and then he’d try to make them into his own. But he’s not going to resurrect what almost killed him here. He’s stupid, but not that stupid.” She suspected Mickey would have slipped away into the night, found the medical attention he needed and was now licking his wounds and looking for the best way to come out of this without tainting the reputation Annie and the others had of him back in the city. “I never want to see him again, but I’m sort of glad he’s alive. Is that weird?”<br/>Hopper shook his head. “Regardless of how you feel about him now, he was – at some point – important to you.” He remembered the times when he would drink and call Diane. He knew their marriage was over, but back then he had always just wanted to hear her voice, to have that connection. He hadn’t spoken to her in over a year now, but Hopper knew that if she called him he would find himself drawn to help her. Feelings change, but memories of what once was did not.</p><p>The timer in the kitchen began to ring, buzzing across the countertop. Hopper winced, raising a hand to his ear as the other fished a cigarette out from the packet on the coffee table. El came racing out of her room, a grin plastered across her face as she beat Evelyn to the kitchen.<br/>“Let’s see.” Evelyn grabbed the oven gloves she had brought from her place and pulled out the baking tray, examining the hot cookies before straightening up with the tray. She kicked the oven closed, and shimmied the cookies onto the cooling rack.<br/>“Can I have one?” El asked leaning over the fresh cookies.<br/>“If you want to burn your tongue.” Evelyn teased, tidying away the gloves and placing the used baking sheet by the sink. “Go and finish getting ready. You can have the first one once they’ve cooled.”<br/>“Hey, don’t I get the first one? I’m the injured guy here.” Hop called, twisting around the arm of his chair to look at the two of them.<br/>“You can just walk on over here and get one.” Evie folded her arms and El chuckled. “Doc says you need to walk on that leg more anyway.”</p><p>He was doing a good job. He grumbled more in the mornings and whenever he couldn’t shadow El, but he had rested like he was supposed to and now he was building the strength back up in the leg. Often it was just moving outside to sit with Evie in the evenings, but he had noticed that getting around the cabin was easier and he didn’t need the crutch as much now. He accompanied Evelyn to places like the laundromat and Melvald’s – short trips out where he could see for himself that Hawkins was still standing. It was still a few more weeks before he could put his uniform on and return to work – though he intended to convince El to drop him by the station before then and spend a few days working from his desk. </p><p> </p><p>El grabbed a pair of clean socks from the fresh laundry that no one had put away yet and moved to the couch to stuff her feet into the scuffed up sneakers that Hopper could have sworn were new. Evelyn hummed to herself in the kitchen as she cleaned up the clutter that had been left out.<br/>By the time El had grabbed a jacket and coaxed a handful of change from Hopper, Evie had started putting most of the cookies into the Tupperware box. She had left a plateful for herself and Hopper to enjoy. <br/>“Here you go. Have fun.” El clutched the box in her hands and then made to the front door.<br/>“Home by eight!”<br/>“Nine!”<br/>“Eight thirty and not a minute later!”<br/>Evelyn chuckled at the exchange, shivering as the cool breeze snuck through the gap before the door closed behind the teenager. She took the plate over to Hopper, setting it down next to his pack of Camels and taking a cookie for herself.<br/>“Owens asked after you, too.” She said around a mouthful of the warm cookie. <br/>“We can share stories of battle.” Hopper responded sarcastically, reiterating a joke he had started in the hospital when he noticed Owen’s slight limp when he got up from the chair beside his bed. <br/>“I just want to share happy stories. So, count me out.”<br/>“Old stories?”<br/>“So long as they’re happy ones.”<br/>“How about next Friday? I owe you dinner, remember?”<br/>Evelyn smiled, and Hopper felt an uncomfortable fluttering sensation in his chest that lasted until she parted her lips and spoke.<br/>“I can’t.”<br/>“Oh.”<br/>“Hawkins High is throwing a Senior Spring Fling next Friday.” Evelyn quickly explained. “I’m on chaperone duty.”<br/>“Sounds like a great time.” The sarcasm oozed out the way the melted chocolate oozed out of the next bite of the still-warm cookie.<br/>“I’m sure I’ll spend the night making sure no one spikes the punch.” Evelyn said with an eye roll. “But it’s nice to do something mundane. Some of the teachers still act like they don’t know how to talk to me.”<br/>Owens had saved Evie’s job with his vague little tale to the school, but Hopper had a feeling the repercussions of that story might hang around Evie for longer than she liked. <br/>“They’ll come around.” Hopper reassured her. “Just give them time to get caught up in the next tsunami of gossip.” He swallowed the last bite of the cookie, wiping his hands on his jeans. “And then it’ll be summer break and something else will help bury it.”<br/>“I know.” Evelyn knew it was only a matter of time before another scandal pushes her own aside. “It’s just awkward when the teacher’s lounge falls silent when I open the door to it.”<br/>“I’ll come and arrest someone – I’m sure someone has an outstanding parking ticket.”<br/>She laughed, imagining Hopper storming the teacher’s lounge over someone parking overnight on Main Street. “It’ll be a slow day for Hawkins Police when that’s what you’re doing.”<br/>“Might be worth it.” He met Evie’s gaze with a mischievous twinkle in his warm eyes and it made her laugh more.<br/>“I do want to have dinner with you though. I’m hearing a lot about Enzo’s new menu.” <br/>“Saturday? You can fill me in on all the gossip from the dance.”<br/>“Because you really want to know about the latest drama of the Senior Class of ’84.”<br/>“They could be Hawkins future troublemakers. Need to know who to keep an eye on.”<br/>Their eyes met and the pair laughed again, enjoying a moment where there were no nightmares, no talk of monsters and death, but just the tedious, mundane chatter that came with life in small town America.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Woo - this took longer than I expected.<br/>I think we're looking at two or three more chapters before the end - and this next chapter is one I've been planning since the start of this story!</p><p>I do intend to do a sequel - one less supernatural and more just about Hop and Evie. I also have a few One Shot plans I hope to get out next week, so stay tuned for them! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0046"><h2>46. Spring Fling Fail</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Evelyn had been “encouraged” to attend many a high school dance since she had qualified as a high school teacher. Almost every member of staff was asked to help out, but the more recent additions to the faculty always seemed to be the ones assigned to actual tasks at such events. She had counted students in, worked a coat check at a winter formal one time, and checked for any contraband being smuggled through the door; a thankless job that cost her “cool points” with many of the students she had spent a year trying to win around. This year, after a week of after school meetings and various discussions and last minute changes of plans when the Vice Principle had suspiciously contracted stomach flu, Evelyn would be monitoring the punch table to ensure that the students didn’t spike the fruity mixture with something a little stronger.</p><p>It was a tedious job, but given that a few of the staff still eyed her sideways when she walked into the meetings, and mumbled their hellos as though anything they said might have been secretly recorded, Evelyn wasn’t going to argue or push for something a little more entertaining. It was five hours on a single Friday night. It would be over eventually and then she would be back to Hopper’s cabin for what was probably one of her last weekend’s there.</p><p>He was getting better, recovering a lot faster than she or anyone had thought. But then it was Hopper, and he was stubborn. If he wanted to be back to work before the weather turned warmer then he would be back at work come hell or high water. He had convinced her to drop him off at the police station on Tuesday and Thursday, after a lot of following her around the very small cabin and a lot of talking at her until she finally relented just so she could get on with planning a pop quiz for her advanced sophomore class. He was threatening to drive himself into town anyway now that the Blazer was repaired, and Evelyn had no doubts that he would. Even if it hurt him Hopper would deny it and hide the pain behind his usual scowl.</p><p>Knowing that her time with Hopper and El was coming to an end, she had started spending more time in her own cold, quiet cabin. At first it was just to get a change of clothes, blaming the changing weather. It was getting too warm to hide behind chunky knit sweaters and fleece lined cardigans. She had been quick that first time, in and out in under twenty minutes, paying little mind to the small hunting cabin she had turned into a home. It was only on her subsequent visits, after school was out, that she had noticed the dust settling on her record collection, or the way the late afternoon sun reflected off the picture frames angled on her shelves. It wouldn’t be a seamless transition to call this place home again. She expected a few sleepless nights, some awkward moments when her own reflection would startle her, but she knew she would come to find peace here again in time – she had to. She couldn’t let the ghost of Brenner and the nightmares of the Demogorgons win. She wouldn’t.</p><p> </p><p>On the Thursday afternoon – the day before the Senior Spring Fling – Evelyn had returned to her cabin to pick out a dress for the dance. She didn’t give much thought to the black dress she slid from the hanger, only thinking that black went with just about everything, which meant she didn’t need to spend too much time worrying about accessories and jewellery. She swiped the boxes from the makeshift vanity table she had squeezed into the corner of the bedroom, shoving them into the rucksack she had saved from her college days and then headed back to Hopper’s, leaving the dress hanging in her car until late into the night; she was cooking with garlic and did not want the smell to seep into the fabric. She had actually been dozing off on the sofa while Hopper finished watching some cop show from the 70s when she recalled it was still in her backseat.<br/>“Really?” He asked from the doorway after following her, thinking something was wrong when she had dashed out of the front door, leaving it ajar.<br/>“I forgot it was there.” Evelyn mumbled, draping the light fabric over her arms as she locked the GTI up again.<br/>“It couldn’t have waited until morning?” Hopper stepped aside as she reached the door again.<br/>“It needs to air. Musty wardrobe smell and my car smell…not a good mix.”<br/>He fixed her with a confused stare. He didn’t even realise his clothes always smelt of smoke and leather from his cigarettes and the seats of the blazer. Not that Evelyn minded; she had come to think of those scents as safe ones, warm and comforting, just like the smell of freshly baked apple pie always made her feel like she was home.</p><p>He had gotten used to seeing Evie’s things scattered around his cabin by now. At first it had been strange seeing her shoes by the door, or a sweater tossed on the back of the couch, but now it was almost normal. He would never admit it, but he liked her things cluttering up the tiny bathroom, her toothbrush beside his. She had mentioned moving back home at the start of the week, said she’d leave once he was back at work, and Hopper had frozen where he was washing the dishes. He had managed to trick himself into forgetting that this wasn’t forever. It had been easy living with her, watching TV while she graded papers, or helped El with the little lessons he tried to set her every day. She dried the dishes he washed, and they shared popcorn and cold beers for Friday night movies. Their silences were comfortable, the shared looks buzzing with electricity, and if Jim thought that his leg was strong enough to bear his weight then there had been more than one moment when he had wanted to stride across the room and pin her against the wall of his cabin and kiss her senseless. Instead he had only been able to do that in his dreams. Now, he was pinning his hopes on Saturday night, on the 7:30 table booked at Enzo’s, and on the second chance he still didn’t think he deserved with the incredible science teacher.</p><p> </p><p>Friday afternoon, and Evelyn was out of school with the students, leaving the Spring Fling Committee and Miss Click in the hall to decorate for the evening’s bash. She would be back there soon, as soon as she had changed from the thin purple sweater and black pants she had spent all day teaching in. <br/>She greeted Hopper and El quickly, checking the time and figuring she probably had enough time for a quick shower to wash the smell of the science lab away, and give her curls some life; they were looking a little limp after an afternoon of Bunsen burners and chemical reactions. <br/>Scrubbed clean, and with a citrusy scent enveloped in the steam cloud that filled Hopper’s bathroom, Evelyn dried off with a fluffy white towel and wiped the mirror clean so she could make sure her curls weren’t going to dry frizzy as she plugged the hairdryer in. Over the din, she could faintly make out the sound of the record player in the next room, a Bruce Springsteen track coming through the wall followed by Hopper’s slightly offkey accompaniment. She smiled, teasing the volume into her curls, humming along with the muffled music.</p><p>Once her hair was dry, she tossed the towel into the laundry basket and rummaged through her duffel bag where she kept most of her clean laundry that didn’t need to be hung up on hangers. She shoved aside a few pairs that she knew weren’t going to go well with this dress for various reasons, or were ones she wanted to save for a different time in the month. She ended up resigning herself to a black lacy pair that she didn’t really know why she had packed, although a deliciously dark dream that had replaced the nightmares and comprised of Hopper pinning her into the mattress while his teeth bit into her neck quickly reminded her why. Heat raced through her cheeks as she shimmed the panties up her thighs, smoothing them over her hips before she reached for the dress, sliding it up her body. Evelyn slipped the spaghetti straps over her shoulders and straightened the ruffled off-the-shoulder sleeves around her biceps. She tried reaching for the zip, but it ran the full length of the back and no matter how she tried she couldn’t quite grip it. This was why roommates were so practical. </p><p>Peering out of the bedroom, she caught Hopper’s gaze and smiled.<br/>“El still around?”<br/>He scoffed. “After three thirty on a Friday? No chance.” He glanced back at her and a line appeared in his brow. “Why?”<br/>“I need a little help, and I was just going to ask her.” Evelyn stepped out of the doorway, holding the dress against her body so it didn’t slip down. “Zipper.”<br/>Hopper grunted his understanding. “Turn around then.” She did as he told, spinning on the spot. </p><p>Hopper crossed the room, his eyes fixed on the exposed bare skin of Evie’s back. She was braless, and when he glanced down to see the bottom of the zipper he was treated -  by chance - to the most teasing of glimpses of the lace covered mostly by the skirt of her dress. He felt the heat rush through his body, his mouth dry as he gripped the small metal fixture and pulled it slowly up, watching as the velvety material tightened around Evie’s slender frame, hugging her silhouette. <br/>For Evelyn, Hopper’s touch was hot, burningly so, and the second the dress was fastened she wanted him to rip it off her again. She turned around, glassy eyed, lips parted and stared up at him. His eyes were dark, lips pressed into a thin, tight line. She leaned back into the doorframe, blinking up at him, so very tempted to beg him to take her to the bed they had been sharing, to help quell the ache that was building between her legs; the ache that he could cause with just a look, just a smile. </p><p>His thoughts weren’t far from hers either. Only his weren’t necessary including the bed. He was thinking about taking her up against the wall, her legs wrapped around his waist while he pushed that black lace aside and buried himself inside of her. He took her in, his gaze drinking up every inch of her, from the hungry jade eyes that stared at him, to the ample cleavage that heaved from under the black sweetheart neckline of the dress that now clung to every curve of her body before flaring out slightly at her hips, the skirt hitting just below her knees. Hopper didn’t see the exposed scars, or even think of them. All he saw was the stunning woman before him, one he was crazy about, one he had given space to while they both recovered, but who he was still madly attracted to, who he had ran through fire for, who he wanted to take out to dinner, but right now, more than all of that, who he wanted to kiss. <br/>“Jim…” There it was. That same breathy voice, that same tone from that night in the lab, the night of their almost kiss. “Jim, please…”<br/>He closed the space between them, hand coming to rest on her waist. Evelyn curled her fingers into his maroon sweater, breath hitching in her throat. Both of them leaned in at the same time, both wanting this as badly as the other.</p><p>At that moment, the cabin door burst door open and El’s laughter echoed through the space, followed by the voices of Mike and Dustin arguing over the arrangements for their Friday evening plans, specifically in what order they were going to the arcade and ordering pizza.<br/>“Forgot my pyjamas for Max’s.” El explained, holding up the rucksack before moving back towards the front door. “See you tomorrow.”<br/>Hopper could barely make sense of the intrusion. He felt the cool breeze of Evie moving away suddenly, and heard the voices of the teenagers fading into the distance after the cabin door slammed shut again. Blinking, he straightened and glanced around, spying Evie in the bedroom wobbling as she slipped into a pair of black, patent leather high heels. He stepped inside, but she grabbed an armful of items including her make-up bag and brushes, a jewellery box and a small purse and brushed by him without looking up at him, though he noticed the crimson colour of her cheeks.<br/>“Evie-“<br/>“I gotta get to the dance. I’m already late.”<br/>“Evie, wait.”<br/>“Later Hop.”<br/>He watched her practically flee his cabin and found himself wondering how many times she would slip through his fingers before they finally had a chance to give into what they both wanted. Hopper couldn’t help but wonder if their date tomorrow night would even happen; he couldn’t exactly say luck was on their side – not after two not quite kisses, and a whole series of unfortunate misunderstandings on his part about where her feelings resided. </p><p>And with that thought clearing away the clouds from his mind, he decided that perhaps it was time he did something about that.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next Chapter coming tomorrow - and then there will be two more to wrap this up before the sequel.</p><p>Also look out for a one shot that I hope to have up on Saturday since it's a Halloween themed one.</p><p>&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0047"><h2>47. REO Speedwagon, Burgers and Camels</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Long chapter ahead! I hope you'll find it enjoyable!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Evelyn still felt the heat in her cheeks when she arrived at Hawkins High. The DJ was setting up in the corner of the gymnasium, and Miss Click made her way over to her, glancing around before pulling a small silver hip flask from her scarlet purse. <br/>“Something to make the night go a little quicker?” She offered, holding it out towards the science teacher.<br/>Evelyn didn’t hesitate. She gulped back two mouthfuls of the strong whiskey without wincing, handing it back and letting out a long, slow sigh.<br/>“Wow. Okay. I have more if you need it. No one is supposed to know, but Mr Mundy keeps some hidden behind an old locker in the teacher’s lounge…”<br/>“Uh, yeah.” Evelyn blinked at her colleague, glancing around at the decorated space, but not really taking any of the details in. “I’m just going to go finish getting ready – do you need anything from me yet?”<br/>“No. You go do what you need to do. We’re just about done here. Roger is just setting up and then we’ll do the punch when Dolores comes.” Miss Click smiled. <br/>Evelyn turned without another word, heading back towards the door, barely waving when Miss Click called one last compliment after her.<br/>“Nice gloves!”</p><p>In the bathroom, she set her make-up bag on the sink, and closed her eyes, closing her fingers around the cold porcelain rim. Her body felt like it was on fire. If she was anywhere else, if this was any other time, she might have done something about it. She might have given into the wicked thoughts that had gripped her mind since Hopper touched her. She might have dipped her fingers beneath the waistband of her panties and felt how hot and slick those thoughts had made her. <br/>“Get. It. Together.” She scolded herself, shaking her head, curls falling into her face as she began rummaging through her bag, grabbing the products she always used and the brushes she sort of wished she had washed before tonight just because it was a mundane chore, and a mundane thought that wasn’t hot or sexy in any possible way. </p><p>She felt rushed, but the end result was passable. Her make-up was even, she had managed a nice balance of “Hey, it’s a party!” and “Hey, I’m still a teacher!”. A purple eyeshadow with a subtle shimmer, her usual touch of eyeliner and mascara, and a slightly darker than normal red lipstick. She slid a pair of hoops into her ears and called it quits, choosing not to go overboard with the accessories since this was not a party for her to enjoy; she was supposed to be policing it. <br/>Still feeling flustered, she made a quick detour to her car to unload the items no longer necessary, keeping just the tube of lipstick and $30 in the small purse she would keep near the punch table. The cool air helped blow away the lingering sensation of Hopper’s hands on her body; the fingers brushing up her spine, his large hand curled around her waist…<br/>Oh god…<br/>No.<br/>Evelyn shook her head.<br/>No. This had to stop. She had to be a professional. This was a school. This was where she worked. She had to stop thinking those kind of thought about Hopper right now. In a little while the seniors would be piling in, their own hormones raging, and she was expected to help dry any tears caused by broken hearts, or tell those confused by their own racing hormones that it was okay to take things slow, or to be unsure. She couldn’t do any of that if all she could think about was every possible way Jim Hopper might make her see the stars. </p><p>Taking a deep breath and smoothing out the skirt of her dress, Evelyn held her head up and walked back into the school and straight for the gymnasium. She was greeted immediately by a cup of punch and a grinning Miss Click.<br/>“Here.”<br/>“Uh, thanks?” Evelyn took it from her and sipped at it, grimacing at the taste. “I thought the whole reason I was on punch duty was to make sure it wasn’t spiked?”<br/>“Oh, it isn’t. Dolores just always brings a little something for us – you know since we’re setting up and giving up a Friday night to let these kids have fun while certain other members of staff are sick. Mr Mundy has come down with something now – caught him entirely by surprise after school…”<br/>“That’s convenient.” Expecting the gin in the fruit punch this time, Evelyn took a more moderate sip.<br/>“Mmhm. So that’s one less teacher patrolling the dance floor. Not that the students will mind.”<br/>Evelyn nodded in agreement. She never really saw the harm in letting the senior class dance a little closer or let sweethearts share a kiss during a slow song. Some of them would never see each other again after the summer, and others would marry and spend their entire lives together. At least the rules weren’t as bad now as they were when she had been at Hawkins High. Mr Cooper used to walk around and kick peoples’ legs apart if he thought they were too close.<br/>“Anyway, are you feeling better, dear? You seemed a little flushed when you came in earlier…”<br/>“I’m fine.” Evelyn insisted with a smile, though thoughts of Hopper were still trying to creep into her mind. “I was just hurrying and thought I was going to be late.”<br/>Miss Click eyed her suspiciously. Evelyn knew she had been running late in the past and had never been in a state like she was when she showed up in the gymnasium tonight. Still, the history teacher didn’t question her any further and instead jogged off to fix a falling corner of the welcoming banner that hung over the doorway of the hall.</p><p>It was going to be a long night, and Evelyn downed the rest of her potent punch in one gulp.</p><p> </p><p>A few hours later and the dance was underway. It was nothing Evelyn hadn’t seen before. There were kids too nervous to ask their crushes to dance, getting halfway over to them and then diverting to the punch table where they had now said ‘hi’ to Miss Carter for the fifth time so far that night. Some lingered on the edge of the dance floor, waiting for the boy of their dreams to suddenly sweep in and notice them, taking their hands and dancing with them until a teacher chased them out at the end of the night. Others didn’t care about that and were dancing alone, or with their friends, whooping and cheering when “their songs” came on. Couples stayed in the darker spots, whispered declarations of love spoilt by friends dragging them away for drama or gossip demands. Evelyn had seen and lived through it all. She had been the lonely girl, been the girl who didn’t care if she was danced with, been the couple in the corner, and now she was the grown up serving punch and wishing she could be somewhere else.</p><p>“Hey, Miss Carter.”<br/>“Hey, Steve. Punch?”<br/>“Sure.” He took the cup from her and took a swig of the too sweet drink. “By the way, someone needs you out in the parking lot.”<br/>“What?”<br/>He shrugged, gesturing with his thumb back towards the door he hadn’t long come through. “I just got asked to pass the message on.”<br/>“I can’t leave the punch table, Steve.” Her tone implied that he knew the reason why, and Steve Harrington knew exactly why. <br/>“I’ll watch it.”<br/>“You?”<br/>“Yeah.”<br/>“I can’t.” It would be irresponsible of her. She trusted Steve, but he was still a student.<br/>“Trust me. You want to go outside.”<br/>Evelyn narrowed her eyes at him. He gave her a look of perfect innocence that she knew was utter bullshit, but her curiosity got the better of her.<br/>“Fine. But listen to me. I know <i>exactly</i> how this punch tastes. I even know how this punch tastes when it’s been spiked. So, I’ll be testing it when I get back and if it tastes even slightly off, all the Farrah Fawcett hairspray in the world won’t save you from the hell I’ll bring down.”<br/>“Okay, okay. And don’t threaten me like that so loud.” Steve hissed, running his hand almost protectively over his hair. “And how did you-“<br/>Evelyn pointed to her own head. “I’d look like the cowardly lion without it.”<br/>His mouth formed an ‘o’ in understanding, and he slipped around the table to replace her. <br/>“I mean it Steve, no funny business. I’m trusting you here.”<br/>“I know. Besides, anyone who wants something stronger will have a flask in the bathroom.” He shrugged, reciprocating the trust by knowing Evelyn wasn’t the type to bust the few kids who did want to have a good time with whatever they had snuck out from their parents’ liquor cabinets. </p><p> </p><p>As the loud music faded away to a soft murmur, Evelyn found herself away from the clusters of students and alone in the hallway before the exit doors. She pushed on the bars, letting the cool night air wash over her skin. Taking a step outside, she saw nothing in the empty parking lot at first until her gaze drifted to the right, where in a parking space against the wall of Hawkins High was the Blazer, and leaning against it, Hopper.<br/>“What are you doing here?” She asked, walking casually over to him, the butterflies re-emerging in her stomach as she recalled their last encounter.<br/>“Is it really a high school dance if you don’t sneak off to have a smoke?” He asked, lighting the Camel that had been hanging from his lips all along.<br/>“It is if you don’t smoke. And if you’re the teacher on duty at the punch table.” She smirked, folding her arms across her chest. <br/>“Well, I thought you might need a break anyway.” He noticed the gloves that ran up to her elbow. “Nice touch.”<br/>“If they work for Madonna, why not me?” She held her hands up, looking at the black lace that did a good enough job in the dark of concealing the scars on her arm.<br/>All they reminded Hopper of was the tantalising black lace he had glimpsed earlier that evening on another part of Evie’s body.<br/>“Evie-“<br/>“Oh, I love this song!” REO Speedwagon came through the open windows of the gymnasium, cutting off whatever Hopper had been hoping to say. <br/>He chuckled softly, shaking away the thought that had been on the tip of his tongue and instead he offered another suggestion.<br/>“Wanna dance?”<br/>“What?”<br/>“Well that’s usually another thing done at high school dances. And someone here missed their prom, if I remember correctly.”<br/>“This isn’t prom.” Evelyn fired back with a cheeky grin.<br/>“A dance is a dance.” He retorted, reaching out to pull her close, closing one hand around her waist and with his other he interlaced his fingers through hers.<br/>Evelyn laughed warmly, settling her hand on his shoulder, though it slowly crept down to his chest as she settled into the song. Hopper suddenly spun her out and back in again, dipping her low and grinning wolfishly at her as her laughter echoed around the empty parking lot.<br/>“Callahan isn’t the only one who has moves.” He teased, earning himself a slap to the chest.<br/>“Will you ever let that go?” She scolded lightly as he straightened up, pulling her a little closer now.<br/>“Only after you realise I’m the better dancer.”<br/>“We still have most of the song to go.” She challenged, looking up at Hopper through her eyelashes.<i> “And even as I wander, I’m keeping you in sight…”</i> Her eyes met Hopper’s dark ones, and suddenly Evelyn felt her heart racing, the lyrics taking on a new meaning than just some power ballad she sang when cleaning the dishes, or driving in her car. They raced through her blood, conveyed feelings she had been trying to hide from and embrace all at the same time over the last few weeks. <i> “You’re a candle in the window on a cold dark winter’s night…”</i> Her whispered singing died off entirely, and she didn’t even notice that they’d stopped dancing, and were now just standing in each other’s arms in the parking lot at Hawkins High.</p><p>Hopper’s hand moved from hers and came to cup her jaw, his thumb brushing over her dark red lips. She saw him swallow, his eyes dash from hers to her lips and then back again.<br/>“Evie…”<br/>She didn’t waste another moment. They’d wasted so many already. They’d faced death, almost walked into its arms, and come so close to this time and time again but been interrupted, or pulled themselves away for some stupid, sensible reason or another. Not now. Not again.<br/>She pressed her lips to his. Her free hand coiled around his neck, pulling her body flush against his. She smiled into the kiss as he returned it with just as much desire, his hand tightening around her waist, sliding around to the small of her back to hold her against him. Evie was in heels, but pushed herself further onto her toes, wanting to be even closer to Hopper, wanting to feel as much of his solid form as possible. His heat radiated through her, and she ran her hand over his chest, wondering what he felt like under the soft wool of his sweater. She let out a soft moan at the thought, which elicited a low growl from Hopper as he tightened his hold, wrapping both of his arms around Evie as he spun her around, lifting her off the ground and pressing her back into the nearest solid surface. </p><p>As the song came to a close, Evelyn found herself with her back pressed against the side of the Blazer, her mind fogged up with lust and the itch to wrap her legs around Hop’s waist. Only the opening bars of Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ reminded her that they weren’t exactly somewhere private. <br/>“I have to get back inside.” She was breathless, voice thick with desire as she reluctantly tilted her head back from Hopper’s.<br/>“Yeah.” Hopper nodded, raking a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean-“<br/>“I know.” She smiled, pressing her lips back to his for one more smoky kiss. More could be said with a single kiss than words right now. “Someone isn’t supposed to be driving, by the way.” She raised her eyebrows and shot him the look usually reserved for students caught trying to peer at their partner’s papers during classroom tests.<br/>Hopper laughed, loosening his hold on her hip. “Well I thought you might want a burger after the dance.”<br/>“That’s why you came here?” Evelyn asked, taking a reluctant step away and instantly longing for Hopper’s warmth again.<br/>“Yeah.” Hopper hadn’t gotten much further in his thoughts than suggesting they get burgers, but he was hoping something more would come from that idea. He just hadn’t considered that ‘something more’ might happen before he even had the chance to bring up the burgers.<br/>Evie eyed him suspiciously, but a smile still tugged at her lips. “Okay. Burgers. To go. After the dance.” She turned around and moved back to the door of the school, glancing back at Hopper when her hand was on the handle, and she was grinning like the Cheshire Cat when she did. </p><p>Inside, Steve had company at the punch table. Nancy and Jonathan were filling their own cups when Evelyn returned, doing her best to look discreet, trying to play it off as though she might had simply taken a bathroom break.<br/>“Uh…You got something…” Steve tried to subtly point to his face, but Evelyn didn’t catch on and Jonathan could only cough and look away.<br/>It was Nancy who, rolling her eyes, pulled out a compact from her purse and offered it to their science teacher.<br/>“Lipstick check.”<br/>“Oh!” Mortified that she had forgotten something so obvious, Evelyn turned her back to the crowd of oblivious students and pulled her lipstick from her purse, using the compact Nancy had handed her to clean up the tell-tale signs of her make-out session.<br/>“Thanks.” She said with an embarrassed smile, handing the compact back to Nancy, while the two boys kept pretending to ignore what had just happened. <br/>Evelyn supposed that she was still their teacher after all, despite the other connection they all shared, and it was really no secret between them that there was <i>something</i> between Evelyn and the Chief of Police. Plus, Steve knew who had been outside, so it was no mystery who she had met up with or what had happened now.<br/>Serving herself, she gulped down a cup of the punch, using the fruity concoction to wash down the embarrassment of being caught out by her students.<br/>“Not spiked. Thanks, Steve.”<br/>“Yeah, sure.” He looked around. “Glad you…had fun…”<br/>Evelyn winced, that embarrassment rising again. But boy, it was worth it – and now she just had a few more hours to get through.</p><p> </p><p>The parking lot was almost entirely empty when she finally made it outside again. After the students had all left, the teachers had needed to clean up. Most would be taken care of on Saturday morning by the janitorial staff, but Evelyn and Miss Click did their best to collect up discarded punch cups, and pile the streamers up so that the job wouldn’t eat into too much of the janitor’s weekend. </p><p>Evelyn felt the butterflies in her stomach before she even stepped outside this time. She had wished the history teacher goodnight and headed off a few minutes ahead of her, teasing her curls and smoothing out her dress before she pushed opened the door. Hopper was leaning against the Blazer again and this time Evelyn realised they had a tiny issue.<br/>“We have two cars.” She pointed to her GTI parked at the opposite end of the lot to him.<br/>He shrugged. “You can pick it up in the morning.” He suggested. “I’ll drive you in first thing.”<br/>“And you’re okay to drive?” Evelyn asked. She still worried about Hopper pushing himself too hard too soon.<br/>“It’s Hawkins. It’s not exactly a big place to drive around.” He told her, still reading the worry in her eyes. “I’m fine, Evie.”<br/>She relented, crossing over to him, back to her GTI. “Burgers then?”<br/>“Burgers to go?” He asked, eyebrow arched, unsure why she had asked for that specifically earlier before vanishing back into the school.<br/>“Mmhm.” She walked around to the passenger side, climbing up into the truck.<br/>“To go where?” He tugged open the driver’s door.<br/>“Home. I mean – to go to your cabin.” Her cheeks flushed red, and Hopper ignored the warmth in his chest that spread when she said ‘home’.</p><p> </p><p>The burgers barely made it to the cabin. Hopper’s was half eaten by the time they got there, and Evelyn had devoured her fries in their entirety. The slush she usually ordered had been replaced with water after she explained about the too-sweet punch and was now almost gone too, whereas Hop’s soda was just remnants of ice cubes. <br/>“I probably should have eaten before the dance.” Evelyn laughed, unwrapping her burger as she hopped out of the truck, moaning as she took a bite.<br/>Hopper knew the difference now between that moan and the ones that were born from primal desires. He knew how to tell when she was putting them on, and when they were instinctive, raw, and needy. It had only been one heady kiss, but knowing the difference made him grin. <br/>“What are you smiling at?” Evie tilted her head, looking at him with a curious expression as she climbed the porch steps.<br/>“Nothing.” Hopper answered with a shake of his head, closing the space between them and leaning over her to unlock the door.<br/>He watched Evie kick her heels off by the door, toss her purse and the gloves onto the table and throw her garbage into the trash. By the time she curled up onto the couch her burger was almost eaten.<br/>“I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who ate like you can.”<br/>She studied him with a furrowed brow. “Is that a good thing?” She asked.<br/>“It’s not a bad thing.” Hopper admitted, throwing his keys into the bowl before taking his coat off.</p><p>It was refreshing to meet someone who didn’t fuss constantly over what they ate. Sure, Evie brought healthier food into the cabin in the time she had been staying there, but it wasn’t all she preached. She enjoyed a burger, loved pizza with extra pepperoni, and would argue that should someone order pineapple on pizza it was still fruit and therefore counted as a healthy meal. Hopper just wasn’t sure how he felt about the fact that there was a strong chance Evie could probably eat more than him at an all-you-can-eat buffet.</p><p>He sat on the couch next to Evie, sitting closer than he would normally, but giving her enough space that she could move if she wanted to. This was uncommon ground for them in their friendship…relationship…whatever <i>it</i> was that they had. They hadn’t talked about it and Hopper wasn’t exactly great with words, or with feelings. <br/>“So…” Evie began, reaching up to her ear to remove one earring and then the other. “This isn’t like anything I’ve ever done before – or felt before, I guess.” She looked at Hopper, resting her hand on his arm. <br/>“What do you mean?”<br/>“I mean, if this-“ She gestured to the burger wrappers, “had been a first date, I’d have expected to leave here, to have you drive me home and kiss me goodnight.”<br/>He nodded in understanding. He hadn’t been on a real date in some time, but he remembered how they were supposed to go.<br/>“But this isn’t a date…and I’m not leaving.” Her eyes found his, seeing the uncertainty in there, the fear that she was going to say something he didn’t want to hear. “You’re not just some guy I like. I don’t even know how to explain <i>this</i> to anyone else, because no one else knows what we’ve been through. You have my past, the darkest moments of it, the bits I don’t even understand yet, and you’re one of the very few people in this town – in the fucking world, actually - who I don’t have to lie to about why I have so many scars, or the nightmares…and…” Evelyn trailed off, biting her lip and leaning in to Hop. “Jim, what I’m trying to say is…what we have is complicated, and runs deeper than what most people have when they share their first kiss. And I’m not the type of woman who would jump into bed on the first date with any man. I’ve <i>never</i> done that. But this wasn’t a first date, you’re not just any man, and I pretty much <i>need</i> you to take me to bed and fuck me.”<br/>Hopper shifted slightly, feeling a warmth course through his body from where her hand rested on his arm.  He didn’t know what he had been expecting her to say, but it hadn’t been <i>that</i>. His eyes darkened when he looked back at her, but that look was quickly replaced by the worry etched across his brow. “Evie, I don’t want you to think that’s all I want.”<br/>“I know. I never bought into those rumours about you, Hop.” She smiled and shrugged softly. “They’re not about the Jim Hopper I know. And if you don’t want to then that’s fine, I just-“<br/>“No!” He cut her off with a gruff shout, startling her a little. “No, I do. I do want to - a lot. If you knew what I thought about sometimes then…”<br/>“Those thoughts are not one sided, believe me.” Evie said with a needy laugh. She shifted her body closer to his, her knees brushing his thighs. “You drive me crazy, Jim. You don’t even have to do anything and I find myself having the dirtiest of thoughts about you.”<br/>“Really?” His eyes darkened again, lust chasing away the concern that had lingered there seconds before.<br/>She nodded her head. “I couldn’t think straight when I left here tonight. Nothing even happened, but I couldn’t stop thinking about your hands on me, what they would feel like if this dress wasn’t in the way…and tonight certainly wasn’t the first time I thought about that.”<br/>“When was?” Hopper asked, his hand coming to rest on her thigh, his thumb slipping under the fabric of her dress and finding the hot, smooth flesh.<br/>Evie’s eyelids fluttered, and her breath quickened. This time Hopper noticed the affect he had on her and this time he didn’t try to write it off with something else. “The first time?” She shook her head. “It wasn’t real. Not really.” She was rambling, something he found adorable, but usually it was her thinking process, not a nervous habit. “You held the door open at the laundromat, leaned over me. You smelt like smoke and coffee and last night’s whiskey and you asked me out to dinner. I went down the rabbit hole of what could have been. But I didn’t know how you’d feel then, so it wasn’t really real, but…”<br/>“But?” He inched his hand higher, taking the dress with him, his fingers splayed across her thigh, squeezing gently over fading scars and reminding her of the night that had already invaded her mind.<br/>“Fuck, Hop.”<br/>“Soon, baby.”<br/>She glared at him, but there was no malice in her eyes, just hunger. “The night at the motel. On the way to Milwaukee when we made that first stop. You were cleaning and redressing my wounds on my thighs.” She breathed in sharply as his thumb brushed over one of the scars that ran across a sensitive patch of skin. “We had a fight over Phil, but <i>god</i> if I had the strength or even an ounce of energy that night, I might have begged you to take me then and there.” She confessed, happy to tell him everything he wanted to know so long as he kept touching her.</p><p> </p><p>Hopper tugged Evie to her feet, crashing his lips against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, ready to tangle her legs around his waist too, but Hopper pushed her away, spinning her around only to pin her against the bookcase like he was about to arrest her. Instead his hand closed around the zipper of her dress, sliding it down the length of her spine and following its path with his other hand, fingers spread wide across her bare back. Evie whimpered softly under his heated touch, head falling back when she felt his thick fingers dip below the waistband of her lace panties.<br/>“I caught a glimpse of these earlier, and then I saw those gloves of yours and these were all I could think about.” He whispered in her ear, biting at her lobe as his fingertips grazed the curve of her ass.<br/>She laughed wickedly, groaning as he bit at her ear again. “Those naughty thoughts packed them on my behalf...or your behalf, I guess.”<br/>A gasp escaped her lips as Hopper’s hand moved lower, one finger seeking out her hot, slick entrance. He groaned, resting his head against hers. “You’re already so fucking wet.”<br/>A warm, caramel laugh escaped from between the gasps and moans. “I told you; you don’t even have to do anything.”<br/>“Well what happens when I do something?” He removed his hand, spinning her around again, claiming her lips once more. </p><p>The dress loose, Evie slipped her arms free of the sleeves and let it pool at her feet. Her body, now naked apart from the lace panties, reacted to the cool environment of the cabin, and she pushed herself closer to Hopper. She felt his hard length trapped in the denim of his jeans, pressing against her bare stomach. <br/>She slid one hand down between them to tug at his belt, fumbling with the buckle. She fell back against the bookcase, two books falling off to her left when Hopper’s hand came up to cup her right breast, his fingers finding the already stiffened nipple and rolling it between his fingers. He chuckled into the kiss, realising just how sensitive her nipples were from that single touch, and squeezed harder, tugging gently at her pebbled peak. Evie moaned, twisting her fingers into the soft wool of his sweater and deciding it needed to be gone. She pulled at it, and Hopper sensed what she wanted immediately, yanking the clothing over his head and tossing it over his shoulder. Her hand found his bare chest while the other continued to fiddle with his jeans, pulling down the zipper and finding its way inside to touch the rock hard cock that was straining against the confines of his underwear. <br/>Hopper groaned, kissing his way down her neck, sucking hard in that spot below her ear that threatened to make her knees collapse. She clutched at him with her free hand, while she freed his cock with the other, twisting her hand up and down his length in slow, steady movements. <br/>“Evie, fuck, that feels good.”<br/>“I can better than a handjob.” She teased breathlessly, gasping as he scraped his teeth along her pulse point.<br/>“Put your money where your mouth is.” Hopper joked, kissing his way back up to her jaw, along to her swollen lips.<br/>“I’d rather put something else where my mouth is.” She grinned right before he kissed her again.<br/>“Dirty girl.”<br/>Hopper slipped his fingers in the front of Evie’s panties, cursing when he felt how wet she was now. He found her clit, pressing lightly against it as he rolled her nipple between his thumb and index finger. She moaned, legs threatening to buckle again as she used the bookcase for support. Keeping his thumb on her clit, Hop slipped a finger inside her, burying it up to the knuckle. Evie cried out, eyes closing, and she had to relinquish her hold on his throbbing cock. She needed to grip something sturdier, fumbling for something - <i>anything</i> on the shelf, knocking more books clear before reaching out for Hop, steadying herself against his chest. He slowly pumped his finger in and out of her, moving his thumb in slow, teasing motions over her clit. He kept her nipple between his fingers alternating between rolling and pinching it as the pleasure slowly built inside the lowest part of her burning core. <br/>“Hop, Jim, please…” Evie begged, opening her eyes to meet Hopper’s intense gaze.<br/>“What do you want?”<br/>“More. I need more.” She pleaded, tossing her head back against the shelves, trying to grind down on his slow moving finger. <br/>Hopper pushed another finger into her soaking cunt and pumped both quicker, giving Evie what she asked for. She sighed in relief, before moaning louder, thrusting in time with his hand as she sought the pleasure and the release she desperately needed. Hopper’s cock twitched every time she whimpered her pleas, begging him to keep going, to not stop, for just a little more…<br/>“You gonna cum for me, baby?”<br/>Evie nodded her head. “Yeah, yeah, don’t stop, <i>please</i>, don’t stop.”</p><p>Hopper wasn’t going to stop. He wanted to see her come apart on his fingers. He wanted to see her explode on his fingers, on his tongue, and on his cock. He wanted her to scream his name over and over again, until she had no voice left…and then he wanted to watch her cum again, wordlessly, breathlessly, shaking and quivering as she clutched to the bedsheets. </p><p>A high pitched cry broke through the moans, her cunt contracted around his fingers, and Evie dug her short nails into his chest, raking them down over his torso hard enough that Hopper groaned in a little more pain than pleasure. Her head was flung back, eyes squeezed shut, her back arched and she cried out his name in a long string of curses and pleas.<br/>He held her steady, moving his hand from her breast to her back, but keeping his other hand where it was, rubbing her clit through her orgasm, slowly fingering her as she came back to her senses. When she opened her eyes, she looked at him with a glassy, almost vacant stare for a moment before a grin spread across her face.<br/>“Fuck.” She laughed, moving her hands up to cup his face. “That was incredible.”<br/>He pulled his hand out of her panties, bringing his fingers from his lips to taste. Some women found it a turn off, but with the way Evie had been talking tonight, he had his suspicions that her wicked side could shock some citizens of Hawkins into an early grave. As he thought, his actions only made her grin more, even if it did bring a slight endearing blush to her already flushed cheeks.<br/>“Speaking of…” She trailed off, reaching down to tug at his jeans, and Hopper noticed that she was moving to her knees. He stopped her, grabbing her wrist to keep her standing.<br/>“Believe me when I say I would love that. Your slushes have, uh, given me some wild dreams.” She gave him a bemused stare which he waved off for now. “I won’t last. It’s been…well, you’ve been living in my space for nearly six weeks, Evie. I need to be inside you tonight. Nothing else.” He kissed her hard, hoping she understood and wouldn’t take offence to his words.<br/>“Consider it an IOU.” She grinned, kissing him back, tasting the remnants of his fingers, and herself, on his tongue. </p><p>Throughout all of this, Hopper had been doing his best to ignore the dull ache in his thigh. It wasn’t unbearable, but it was definitely doing its best to get his attention and kill the mood right now. He knew that if Evie suspected he was in any kind of pain she would call a halt to tonight and put a damn “IOU” on everything. He didn’t want that to happen; not when they had come this far. </p><p>Wrapping his arms around her, he picked her up in one swift move, laughing when she squealed. Her legs wrapped around his waist and she kissed him hungrily as he carried her into the bedroom, dropping her gently onto the bed. She crawled backwards to the pillows where she turned on the lamp at the bedside table. Resting on her elbows, she watched him slide out of his jeans. He smiled across at her, taking in her comfort in this moment. Evie was so worried about her scars, about explaining them, about people staring, but right now every single one was illuminated in the dim light of the bedroom lamp and she didn’t give a damn. He could see the angry puckering on her arm, the criss-cross scratches on her thick, pale thighs, and she didn’t care. She didn’t try to cover them or ask him not to look. She just gave him a coy smile and waited for him to join her in the bed.</p><p>Hopper crawled over Evie, her hands trailing up his arms to shoulders as she pulled him down into another passionate kiss, albeit slower this time. <br/>“I want you.” She breathed, biting at his lip as she snaked her hand between their bodies to wrap her fingers around his cock again.<br/>Hopper groaned, eyes closing. He couldn’t wait any longer. He needed to be inside Evie, buried deep in her like he had fantasied about time and time again while fisting his cock in his own hand. Hers already felt so much better and she had hardly touched him. <br/>He kicked off his boxers and then slid the lace panties down her legs, running his hands back up the length of them, parting her thighs to get a peek at her glistening cunt. <br/>It was so tempting to bury his face in it right now, to make her writhe on his tongue, and hear her beg again, but he had no patience and his own selfish desires to be deep inside of her won out this time. </p><p>Evie watched as he rolled into the empty space beside her, reaching for the bedside table and the small drawer there. She realised instantly what he was doing and placed her hand on his back.<br/>“It’s okay. I’m, uh, I’m already on the pill.”<br/>Hopper glanced back at her.<br/>“You are?”<br/>“Yeah. From…before.” She didn’t want to bring up Mickey’s name now, feeling it would completely ruin tonight. “Plus, it’s best to be prepared; too many guys aren’t. Not that I- I mean…” Not that she had known that many guys, but she worked in schools and knew stories of plenty of boys who played that game. “Can we have this specific conversation some other time?” She asked with a nervous laugh, pushing raking a hand through her curls.<br/> Hop smiled, chuckling softly. He wasn’t in a position to judge, and he believed her earlier when she had said she wasn’t the type to sleep with men on a whim. “Are you sure?” Hopper asked, his hand coming back to her waist.<br/>“Yeah.” Evelyn wanted to feel <i>him</i>, and she was already being responsible. <br/>Hopper responded with a hard kiss, pressing her back into the pillows as he moved over her again, nudging her thighs apart with his knee as he positioned himself at her entrance. </p><p>There were no words, no seeking for last minute assurances, just intertwined fingers and hot kisses as he pushed the head of his cock inside. She gasped, arching towards up, her peaked nipples grazing his chest as he slowly sunk deeper into her, taking his time as the walls of her cunt stretched around his thick, hard cock. She whimpered, moaning softly as she spread her legs wider, wordlessly encouraging him to go deeper. He groaned, burying himself to the hilt, and resting his forehead against hers. Evie had never felt so full. She was stretched, but in a good way, and her body twitched and yearned for more from him.<br/>“You okay?” Hopper whispered. It was taking everything he had not to just pull back out and slam right back in.<br/>“Okay doesn’t even come close.” She panted, smiling and laughing. “I feel so fucking good.”<br/>Evie let out a breathy moan as he pulled almost entirely out and then slid slowly back in. He did it again and she moaned louder, her nails digging into the back of his hands. <br/>“How do you like it?” He asked, peppering kisses across her jaw.<br/>“With you, tonight? Fast and hard.” Evie dreamt there would be other times for memorising what each other liked best, for finding the spots that made each other squirm most, but tonight she just needed to give into that tension that had been building for far too long.</p><p>Hopper groaned at her ear, and Evie thought he sounded relieved, but she had no time to question it as he began snapping his hips against hers quicker, fucking her harder and faster like she had asked for. <br/>“Fuck, Jim!”<br/>Evie couldn’t have suppressed her moans if she tried, instead finding them loud, mingling with the gasps and curses that slipped through her lips whenever Jim wasn’t kissing her.</p><p>It felt better than either of them had ever imagined. Evie’s cunt gripped Hopper’s cock with every thrust and each thrust managed to hit the right spot to make her cry out; the right spot that pushed her closer to the edge of that blinding, blissful abyss. Hopper let go of her hands, sitting back where he could fuck her harder, holding her legs further apart. With this new angle his cock was hitting deeper, finding new depths that Evie hadn’t felt before. She cried his name, reaching for him but he was too far away.<br/> Evie could see the concentration on his face, the strain to hold back as the sweat dripped down his brow. She arched back off the mattress, fisting the sheets with one hand as her other rubbed her clit.<br/>“Jim.” The heat pooling in her stomach had coiled tightly and was threatening to snap, she could feel it tightening, tightening…<br/>He looked at her, the restrained plastered in sweat across his face. <br/>“I’m gonna cum.” She told him, eyes fluttering shut as they rolled back.<br/>“Cum for me, Evie.” He instructed, collapsing back over her and fucking her long and hard. He pulled out each time only to slam right back into her. <br/>Evie moaned, body tensing around him as she rubbed her clit furiously. Fireworks exploded across her eyelids, his name catching in his throat as she spasmed around his cock, crying out as Jim fucked her over the edge and through her orgasm. </p><p>She was coming back to her senses, riding the final, intense waves when his voice broke through to her.<br/>“I’m close, Evie.”<br/>“Yeah? I want to feel you in me, Jim.” She wrapped her arms around him, unsure of just when her legs had locked around his waist.<br/>He grunted, tensing as he thrusted, his hips snapping against hers. She felt his cum shooting inside her, eliciting a satisfied moan from the spent brunette who held Hopper tight as another rope of hot cum followed, and another. He collapsed atop her, breathless and sweaty.</p><p> </p><p>They laid like that, still connected, until their bodies cooled, and Evie shivered from the chill in the room. Hopper noticed and rolled from her, pulling out gently. She frowned, feeling empty, almost as though he had removed every trace of him from her life. It was a foolish thought, but she knew that she could thank – or blame – hormones for it. She didn’t want to ruin tonight with a science lesson though. It had been weirdly perfect, strangely <i>them</i>. <br/>“Evie.” She looked up from the pillow and noticed Hopper was holding out one of his thick flannel shirts. She raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t know where you keep your sweaters.” He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.<br/>Realisation dawned on her and it was her turn to look sheepish. “Ah, I might have taken them all home.” She accepted the shirt from him, sliding her arms through the sleeves, not even trying to hide her smile when she realised it smelt like Hopper.<br/>“Why?”<br/>“It’s getting warmer. Didn’t think I’d need them before I went back there.” She shrugged, before meeting his gaze with a wicked gaze in her own. “I didn’t exactly expect to be naked in your bed.”<br/>Hopper lit a Camel and climbed into the bed beside her. She noticed he had slipped a pair of grey sweatpants on. <br/>“Don’t I get a drag?” She asked, curling into his chest when he tugged her closer.<br/>“You don’t smoke.” He reminded her with a raised eyebrow, throwing back the line she had used earlier that night.<br/>“After what we just did, I do.” She grinned, taking the cigarette from him. “I’d offer the whole of Hawkins one after that.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Water anyone? A cigarette? A cold shower? THE SMUT ONLY TOOK 47 CHAPTERS TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE.</p><p>I have so much I could say about this chapter, but honestly the vibe of all I could say is what the sequel is about; the idea of what this relationship is, what it could be, and a whole lot more about Evie (and obviously Hopper) and what makes them who they are. *Plus more smut*<br/>I'm a little bit fascinated writing something that isn't modern day or fantasy, so I kind of love the character development/history I've not been able to share in this story because it's simply not been as relevant as other parts. Evie has a lot that I want to play with in her role as a teacher and with El, and I hope to do that in the sequel &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0048"><h2>48. Pancakes, Phonecalls & Locked Doors</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Explanation &amp; apologies for the delay in posting at the end &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Evelyn opened her eyes the next morning, the space beside her was empty, the sheets rumpled but cold to the touch. She sighed lazily, rolling over and stretching out in the bed. Her body ached, but it was a good kind of ache; the kind of ache reminiscent of an enjoyable workout. She grinned, remembering exactly what had happened the night before. She recalled her dress on the floor of the cabin, the way she had screamed Hopper’s name and how he had felt <i>so fucking good </i> inside of her. It had been hurried and passionate, but there would be time to take their time later. At least, Evelyn hoped there would be.</p><p>As with every first morning after the night before, the worry started to sink in. She assumed every woman had it. It was the worry that the sex wasn’t enough. That the promise of the relationship had been a trick just for the guy to add another notch to their bedpost. Evelyn had thought herself clever enough to notice when a guy was only interested in sex, and she knew Hopper wasn’t the man people gossiped about anymore, but she wasn’t feeling this knot of worry in the pit of her stomach because it was Hop. She was feeling it because she had always felt it, regardless of the guy. It was because books, movies and TV shows painted that picture of men ditching women once they’d bedded them, and then women being shunned by everyone around them. </p><p>But this was different and the empty bed meant nothing of that sort.</p><p>Evelyn knew this not just because she could hear Hopper in the kitchen of the cabin, cursing at the stove for not lighting on the first try, but because last night, when they were curled up in bed, fighting sleep they were talking about dinner tonight, about a community event on in the park next weekend, and Hop was telling her it was still going to be her turn to pick the movie next Friday since this week hadn’t exactly happened. Evelyn had replied to that one by teasingly asking if he thought they’d sit through a movie next week either if they had the cabin to themselves. Hopper had joked that she shouldn’t tease him, that he was too old to keep up, to which Evelyn had replied he wasn’t old at all…and then she remembered little after that, other than Hopper holding her close, his fingers combing through her curls as she drifted off to a peaceful, dreamless sleep.</p><p>Evie smiled again, rolling over to check the time. It was barely after eight. She threw the covers back and swung her legs over the edge, biting her lip as that dull, warm ache spread through her again. Bending over for her duffel, she pulled a thick pair of socks from the inside pocket to save her feet from the cold wooden floor of the cabin, sitting back on the bed for just as long as it took her to pull them on and wiggle her toes. Then she was back on her feet and moving out of the bedroom.</p><p> </p><p>Hopper had woken up a little after seven. It was early, but he felt surprisingly refreshed. He had slept soundly, and deeply, and awoke with Evie still curled up in his arms. Unlike the handful of mornings when this had previously happened he didn’t feel awkward or uncertain. He didn’t feel like he needed to move away before she noticed. He didn’t move at all. He just studied her in the early morning light. She had kicked her share of the bedsheets away at some point in the night, straddling them instead now. One arm was nestled under her pillow, the other tucked against his chest. The sun streamed gently through the window, illuminating the room with a soft, hazy morning glow. Hopper looked at the blemishes on her pale skin, thinking of them as battle scars. He knew that it would take time for Evie to learn to ignore them, but he saw them as a testament to her strength and her courage. She had fought, and continued to fight after seeing things people couldn’t even begin to imagine existed in reality. Some of them would fade and vanish, others – like the ones resting over his heart – she would take to the grave. They didn’t make her any less amazing to him. He thought Evie just as incredible, if not more so because of them. Every time he saw them he remembered that she had survived that attack and still fought on through the exhaustion and the pain to help everyone else. He couldn’t make her love them, but he would never hate them.</p><p>He ran his hand over the curve of her hip, accidentally finding a ticklish spot as his fingers brushed across her soft flesh. Evie squirmed in her sleep, stretching out before curling up again. Hopper smiled, resting his hand against her ribcage. It had been a very long time since he had wanted to just lay here like this with a woman. He almost wished they could stay like this for at least the rest of the weekend, but El would be home eventually, and he wanted to talk to her, to tell her how things were a little different now. As much as he cared for Evie, as crazy as he was about her, he needed El to understand this, too. She was his daughter, and her concerns – if she would even have any – mattered to him.</p><p>A little before eight, Hopper finally decided he needed to move. He needed to use the bathroom, plus he thought it would be nice to have breakfast ready before Evie woke up. She had fallen into a pattern of fussing over him and El in the mornings despite being the only one of the trio who also had somewhere else to be. Hopper wanted to break that pattern and treat her for once, though he wasn’t sure what to make her. He had found himself living in a world where Eggo stacks were a treat when coupled with whipped cream and chocolate chips. Then he thought of pancakes, specifically pancakes with maple syrup and streaky bacon. He could manage that. </p><p> </p><p>He was working on the pancakes, watching the batter sizzle in the skillet when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Twisting his neck, he saw Evie, and a smile broke out almost immediately. He had seen her in the mornings before, time and time again, but it was different today. She seemed lighter, unrushed, the sleepy haze still draped over her like a warm blanket. Her curls were unruly, wild and frizzy in places and flat from the pillow in others. She wore his flannel from the night before, buttoned at the bottom where it skimmed her pale thighs, but open from the chest up, hanging loose on her frame, giving Hop another tantalising glimpse of what lay beneath the orange and blue check.<br/>
“Mornin’. In the mood for pancakes?”<br/>
“Hell yeah.” Her voice was still laced with sleep as she crossed the space between them, a lazy smile pulling at her lips.<br/>
When she reached him, Hop greeted her with a slow, warm kiss. As she pulled away, Evie curled her bottom lip between her teeth, her tongue running slowly over it as she began humming softly to herself. “And just where is my coffee, hm?”<br/>
A deep laugh rumbled up from somewhere deep, and he handed her a mug, letting her hold it while he doctored it to her liking; milk and one sugar, a heaped spoonful if it was first thing, which it currently was.<br/>
He turned his attention back to the skillet long enough to flip the pancake over and then watched Evie swallow the mouthful of coffee, sighing contently as she did most mornings with that first mouthful. It was almost like it was part of her routine. He chuckled, noticing that as she leaned against the counter, his shirt slid up slightly, and she was standing a little closer to him than she might have done before. His hip brushed against hers as he leaned over for the plates, piling the pancakes on them one by one as she nursed her mug of coffee and asked him how he slept.<br/>
“Too good.” He remarked, a smirk twitching at the corner of his lips.<br/>
“Is that even a thing?” Evie asked, breaking off a chunk of one of the fresh pancakes and popping it into her mouth.<br/>
“It is when there are things to be done.” He put the last pancake on the plate and topped the stacks with the bacon that was probably a little too crispy by now.<br/>
“Places to go, people to see?” She asked, stretching up to reach the syrup on the top shelf. Hopper found his gaze wandering to the lilac cotton underwear that flashed momentarily from underneath the shirt.<br/>
“Well, in case you didn’t know, I have a date tonight.”<br/>
She gasped in jest, glancing back at him over her shoulder. “You do? With who?”<br/>
“No one you know.” He teased, carrying the plates to the table, sporting a goofy grin the whole time. “Just a teacher from the school.”<br/>
“Oh, really?” She raised her eyebrows, and instead of taking her seat opposite him, Hop found himself with ‘just a teacher’ in his lap, straddling him. “Tell me about this teacher you have this date with.” She whispered, lacing her hand around the back of his neck.<br/>
“Your breakfast is going to go cold.” Hop muttered, though his hands were already on her waist and making no effort to move her.<br/>
“There are worse things in this world than cold pancakes.” She whispered, pressing a feathery kiss against the scruff on his jaw.<br/>
Hopper’s eyes closed, his head falling to the side. Evie felt his fingers pressing into her sides, his body tensing beneath hers. </p><p> </p><p>The phone rang, Evie’s sweet as candy laugh washing hot breath over Hopper’s ear. He groaned, gently and reluctantly easing her from his lap.<br/>
“It might be El.” He explained, even though Evie hadn’t put up a fight, or uttered even a word of complaint. Instead she sank into her chair, picking up her fork and tucking into the pancakes while they were still – just – warm.<br/>
She watched him cross to the phone, leaning against the wooden beam as he put the receiver to his ear.<br/>
“Hopper.”<br/>
<i> “Chief. We got a problem.” </i> Callahan’s voice was one of the last Hopper wanted to hear that morning. <i> “Well, maybe.” </i><br/>
“What do you mean ‘maybe’?” Evelyn watched Hop’s brow furrow, his jaw tighten.<br/>
<i> “The janitor at Hawkins High reported that Evelyn Carter’s car was still at the school this morning. After her trip out of town last month and the crazy stories the teachers have been whispering – I mean, Evelyn, working as a spy, really? – janitor’s worried.” </i> Hopper’s tension eased, the pad of his thumb rubbing away the line in his brow. <i> “It’s not like her to abandon her stuff around town, Hop, but I know she’s supposed to be staying with you. So is she? With you?”</i><br/>
Evie froze when Hopper looked at her, cheeks puffed up with a mouthful of bacon and pancakes. She raised an eyebrow questioningly and he shook his head.<br/>
“Yes, Callahan. She’s with me. Her car wasn’t abandoned.” Evie tilted her head, putting her fork down and coming across the cabin to try and listen to the rest of the call, pressing her chest against Hopper’s as he angled the phone out so she could hear.<br/>
<i> “It wasn’t?”</i><br/>
Evelyn pressed a hand to her mouth to cover her laughter.<br/>
“No. It turns out the students aren’t the only ones to spike the punch at school dances. I picked her up and brought her home.” She smiled up at him, fingers trailing over her upturned lips as she lowered them. Hop wanted to kiss them, so he did, leaning down and claiming them in a soft, slow kiss that still brought butterflies to her stomach.<br/>
<i> “I’ll let them know she’ll be by to get it later then? Chief? Chief?”</i><br/>
Hopper tapped the phone against the wall until he found the cradle, his hand moving from it to Evie’s hip. She sighed into the kiss, melting into his hold as Hopper’s grip tightened, the flannel shirt rising higher as the cool cabin air chased it. Evie hooked her leg around his hip, pulling him closer, feeling his growing hardness against the juncture of her thighs. Hopper groaned, biting her swollen bottom lip as she gulped down a shaky breath, hands tugging at his sweatshirt, her fingers slipping below the waistband…</p><p> </p><p>The door to the cabin rattled. And then again. Hopper pulled away from Evie, the two of them breathless, panting, her hand still in his pants, his cock twitching against the tips of her fingers.<br/>
“Hey!”<br/>
The voice of a fourteen-year-old was as affective as a cold shower. Evelyn pulled her hand free, smoothing her hair down as she put both feet back on the ground. Hopper stepped away from the science teacher, adjusting himself as best as he could to hide the softening boner as he crossed to the door.<br/>
“One second, kid!”<br/>
“Fuck! I need pants!” Evie was like a blur behind him as she sprinted across the cabin, the sleeves of Hopper’s shirt falling down over her hands with the momentum before she vanished into his bedroom.<br/>
He slid the chain from the door, unbolted the lock and finally turned the handle, swinging it open to greet a confused El on the other side.<br/>
“Good morning.”<br/>
“Why was it locked?” She asked, looking around as she stepped inside.<br/>
“I forgot to unlock it. Too busy making breakfast.” Which was now cold on the table, Hop realised, and then realised that he didn’t actually care about that as much as he once would.<br/>
“Morning! Good sleepover?” Evie came out of the bedroom like nothing was amiss. Hopper was disappointed, however, to see that she was in her own leggings and sweatshirt now. He already missed how she looked in his flannel.<br/>
El nodded, but said nothing else.<br/>
“What are you doing today?” Hopper asked, heading back to the kitchen where he intended to finish the cold pancakes now that it was the only sweet treat he would be getting before lunch.<br/>
“Mike’s. Dungeons and Dragons Campaign.” Hopper watched as his daughter took a box of Eggos from the kitchen cupboard and shoved them into her backpack. She turned to him and then proffered an explanation. “For breakfast tomorrow.”<br/>
“Oh!” His attention turned to Evie, a groan almost escaping as he watched her bend over to fish something from under the coffee table. They may have been interrupted, but he was still apparently not entirely rid of his hungry thoughts from moments ago. “For tonight.” Evie handed El a box of Reese’s Pieces she had stashed away.<br/>
“Thanks.” El grinned, hiding the candy under the clean clothes she was swapping out for her dirty laundry.<br/>
Hopper looked up to see Evie chewing at her lip, worry clouding her green eyes.<br/>
“Hey – why don’t you finish my pancakes before you head over to Mike’s?” Now he was worried, too, his eyes following her across the cabin, watching her feet into scuffed up sneakers.<br/>
El looked up at her with a furrowed brow.<br/>
“Evie – “<br/>
“You two have barely had any time together in the last month. I’ve been in your way and you’re probably sick of the sight of me. I should probably go and clean my own place ready for when I’m back there – “<br/>
“Evie –“<br/>
She grabbed her purse and her denim jacket. “No. This is good. You two have breakfast. And talk. And I’ll see you both later.”<br/>
Hopper was on her before she could get out of the door.<br/>
“What are you doing?”<br/>
“You need to tell her what is going on here.”<br/>
“What do you mean?” He closed the door over, keeping El inside while pressing Evie up against the outside.<br/>
“This – “ she gestured between the two of them, “ – is different than me just staying here while you get better. I don’t want to come between you and El. She’s special, and I don’t want to ruin the trust you’ve built with her.”<br/>
Hopper shook his head with confidence defiance. “Not going to happen.”<br/>
“Jim. Just tell her. Before she goes to Mike’s.”<br/>
“She already knows we’re going out tonight anyway.”<br/>
“Going out is different than going on a date.” Evie said pointedly, her eyebrows raised.<br/>
He sighed, looking away when he realised she was right. “Fine. But you don’t have to go anywhere.”<br/>
“I do.”<br/>
“Why?”<br/>
“Because, like you said, we’re going out tonight, and all my nice clothes – save for the dress on your bedroom floor – are in my wardrobe at home.” She smiled, linking her fingers with his. “So I do need to leave, so I can go and pick something out and get ready. Then I’ll be back in a little while.” Her smile widened, “It’ll be like I’m picking you up for our date.”<br/>
“Oh god.” He rolled his eyes.<br/>
“I’ll see you later.” She pressed her lips to his cheek in a soft, light kiss, and then jogged down the steps of the cabin.<br/>
“Wait, your car-“<br/>
She shrugged. “It’ll be fine for another day. Besides, the walk isn’t that long and I could probably do with the fresh air…and a cold shower.” He barely heard the last three words as they were almost stolen away by the soft breeze that came through, tossing Evie’s hair up as she flashed him one last smile before she turned away entirely.</p><p> </p><p>Inside, El was already halfway through the pancake stack, seemingly unfazed that they were cold. Hopper sighed, his chest tight. He hated talking about feelings, hated the idea that he needed to have a serious discussion with El that was more about himself than her. He reached for his cigarettes, lighting one as he sat back down, ignoring the food as he thought about how best to start the conversation. He started with a long drag on a Camel.<br/>
“Hey, kid, you like Evie, right?”<br/>
“Mmhm.”<br/>
“It’s been fun having her stay here, yeah?”<br/>
El nodded.<br/>
“I like her, too.” He licked his lip, tapping his fingertip against his thumb. “I actually – “ Hop cleared his throat. “I actually like her a lot, y’know? She’s fun to be around. Sure, she drives me crazy, like when she reorganised the cupboards that weekend, but Evie makes me feel…good, y’know? She makes me…”<br/>
“Less grumpy.” El interjected around a mouthful of pancake.<br/>
“What?”<br/>
“She makes you less grumpy.” She repeated without a moment’s hesitation. “You’re happier when she’s around. When she goes to school you’d complain about the pain, or the doctor, or mess, but if she called or came home at lunch you didn’t.”<br/>
Hopper froze, sitting in silence. He didn’t realise he did any of those things. He knew he had hidden some of the pain from her, but that was because he hadn’t wanted the fuss. Evie spent all day dealing with teenagers, was exhausted from her own trauma and restless nights and he hadn’t wanted to be any more of a burden than he already was. He hadn’t actually realised that it was obvious to El, too.<br/>
“Well, I, uh…”<br/>
“She makes you feel better.” El said with a light shrug.<br/>
Of course; because friends don’t lie. Hopper had almost forgot how she clung to that mantra. Maybe part of it was true. He did feel better when Evie was around, but that was in part because he didn’t have to worry about her when he could see her. He’d have to do his best at some point to try and break that illusion, to let El see that sometimes lies – the smallest ones – were necessary and okay to protect the people you care about the most.<br/>
“Yeah, I – She does, yeah.” Hop scrubbed his hand over his beard. Fuck, this was a difficult conversation. Why couldn’t he just come out with it? He took a deep breath, bracing himself, deciding that he needed to just confront this like Evie had told him to. “Look, El…Evie is, well, she’s special – to me. Like how…Mike is to you.” Oh great, El was doing that thing where she stared at him with furrowed eyebrows and a mouthful of food like a confused, angry chipmunk. “And I think she feels that way about me too.” Still no response, and Hopper felt the anxiety settling in as visions of the bookcase flying across the cabin filled his mind. “Our relationship – yours and mine, kid – won’t change…if anything, Evie will probably make things better – I mean, she’s more patient than I am, and she gets the girl stuff a hell of a lot better than I ever could. She’ll be moving back home soon – to her own cabin, but I think – I mean, I hope – she’ll still come over and I’ll take her on dates, and we’ll have our movie nights and Miami Vice, and, well it’s still early days, but…”<br/>
“Wasn’t she already your girlfriend?”<br/>
“What?”<br/>
El repeated the question in a much slower tone. “Wasn’t she already your girlfriend?”<br/>
“Uh, no…No.”<br/>
“That’s not what everyone else says.”<br/>
“Who the hell is everyone?”<br/>
She shrugged, moving to the sink with her empty plate. “Max said that was probably the reason Evie was helping out so much. And you always get the blanket down when she’s cold without her saying anything – which is the sort of thing Jonathan does for Nancy, Will said. And Mike said-“<br/>
“Okay, I get it.” Hopper pinched the bridge of his nose. He had heard enough about the gossiping of teenagers. “So, you’re okay with it?”<br/>
El nodded. “I like Evie. She makes you less grumpy.” Hopper sighed in relief; he was thankful the ordeal was finally over. </p><p>El slung her backpack over her shoulder, pausing at his side to check in on the weary Chief. “Can I go now?”<br/>
“Yeah, sure, kid.” He patted her arm, calling after her. “Behave yourself! I’ll be checking in with Joyce!” Who, he presumed, would also be checking in with him if these damn kids talked as much as it seemed like they did. </p><p>**</p><p>Evelyn hadn’t allowed herself the time to worry about the conversation Hop was having with his daughter. The walk back to her cabin was longer than she had thought it to be, and when she got there, she had found herself a bundle of nerves. She was nervous for the date, nervous about being in the place she called home, and nervous about the future. It was a lot to take in on a Saturday morning when she was still hungover and slightly drunk from the sex the night before.</p><p> </p><p>She turned her key in the lock, breathing deeply as the near faded citrus scent of her home escaped as she cracked the door open. Dim, morning light filtered through her windows, and the stillness was equal parts soothing and unsettling. Although it had been scrubbed away, cleaned and fixed right back up like nothing dark had ever happened, Evelyn could still see her blood on the floor. She was probably the only one who could see it, except maybe for Hopper – if that night haunted him as much as it still haunted her. Her pulse throbbed beneath her scars, a rhythmic reminder of the attack – no, not of the attack – of her survival. Her pulse beat because she was alive. It beat because the Demogorgon hadn’t killed her that night, because Hopper had been there for her. It beat because despite the nightmares and the brushes with the Reaper they had all come out of that surreal sci-fi bullshit saga with NDAs and limbs and their lives intact. </p><p>And now they got to live.</p><p>And that meant she got to go on a date with Hopper.</p><p>Evelyn put her record player on, selecting a Bruce Springsteen record she knew Joey would have loved above all else, and then slipped into the shower, scrubbing herself clean while still feeling that sweet ache left between her thighs. She wasn’t sore, but she felt deliciously used – a feeling Evie had been without for a long time. She took her time, indulging in the privacy that she had been without for the last six weeks. There was something indescribably nice about not being rushed in the bathroom, about not needing to hurry under the hot water, or hastily rub lotion into damp skin. As much as Evelyn had enjoyed the company of Hopper and El, there were some things she had missed – like this little bit of privacy. She hadn’t realised it until now, when Born to Run floated through the cabin, and she took the time to rub the vanilla body lotion into her legs. She had been terrified of coming home, of being alone again, but right now, she realised there was at least one thing she was looking forward to about it. </p><p> </p><p>As she moved from the bathroom to her bedroom, she realised there was only one dress she could wear tonight. The red velvet one she had pushed to the back, determined to forget about. It had been the one she bought for what was supposed to be their first date, the one she had worn the night Hopper stood her up. Some women might have thought it a bad idea, but Evelyn had been determined that it wouldn’t be left to rot at the back of her wardrobe with the other nice dresses she rarely had a chance to wear. She was also determined to prove that it wasn’t cursed or anything else as ridiculously illogical as her paranoid, anxiety riddled mind wanted to trick her into believing. </p><p>She laid it out on the bed, taking her time to dry her hair before she changed. She picked out a lacy crimson lingerie set that she had spent a foolish amount on after goading from her city friends, and then never actually wore. Evelyn almost took it off right away, thinking herself ridiculous for putting it on in the first place. Then she thought again, remembering how Jim had reacted to the lace the night before and that had been entirely unintentional. After pacing around her room and staring at her reflection from several different angles, Evie chose to keep it on, running her hands over the curve of her breasts and down to the high cut leg of the panties. Then, before she could change her mind again, she slipped into the dress, twisting to reach the zip. It looked just as good as she remembered it, and for a wicked moment, wondered if it would look even better pooled on Hopper’s bedroom floor.</p><p>God, one night with the man and she was already addicted.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm so sorry this took a lifetime to get out &lt;3<br/>I have a weird and somewhat rare medical issue that flared up and required hospital treatment - knocked me sideways for two weeks and then with medication being adjusted I've been a bit all over the place. Plus, I've been in work, too while that's been happening and generally I've been coming home and going straight to bed. It's just been an exhausting time. Plus, y'know, the holidays are a tiring season and I'm not an overly festive person so it takes it out of me even more. Basically, a lot of stuff, on top of more stuff, with more stuff drizzled on top!</p><p>But hey, we're getting there, and I'm hopefully going to be able to wrap this up for Christmas. Thank you for everyone sticking with this, reading this still and who is still along for this bumpy, weird, wonderful, and sometimes strange as hell ride.<br/>&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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